Boca Raton's first three school zone cameras sent 5,331 notices in a year and drivers paid 3,370. Another 1,405 unpaid notices were never turned into citations.
Boca Raton’s first three school zone speed cameras sent drivers 5,331 notices of violation in their first year. Drivers paid 3,370 of them, for a total of $337,000.
The figures come from the Police Department’s first annual report on the program, which Police Chief Jarad Phelps presented to the City Council on Tuesday. It covers July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. The cameras went live Sept. 2, 2025, Phelps said.
Another 1,405 notices were never paid and could have become uniform traffic citations. None did. Phelps said the camera vendor, RedSpeed Florida, had not set up a connection with the Palm Beach County clerk of court’s office. That link was made only in the last 30 days, he said. Because so much time had passed since those notices went out, the department did not move forward with them.
Which school zones caught the most drivers
J.C. Mitchell Elementary School accounted for just over half of all notices. Each zone has two camera approaches, one in each direction.
| School zone | Road | Notices | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.C. Mitchell Elementary School | Northwest Fifth Avenue | 2,721 | 51% |
| Boca Raton Community High School | Northwest 15th Avenue | 2,058 | 39% |
| Addison Mizner School | Southwest 12th Avenue | 552 | 10% |
| Total | 5,331 |
At Boca Raton Community High, notices from four half-days were thrown out. The cameras there ran outside the posted enforcement times on those days, the report says.
All three zones have a 15 mph limit when the lights flash and a 30 mph limit otherwise. A camera sends a notice when a driver goes at least 11 mph over the school zone limit, and each notice carries a $100 civil penalty.
What happened to the notices
The report breaks down the 5,331 notices this way:
- 3,370 paid
- 544 dismissed, one of them at a hearing
- 22 contested at a hearing, of which 21 were upheld
- 0 issued as uniform traffic citations, though 1,405 were eligible
The report’s figures come from RedSpeed’s annual summary, run Sept. 25, 2026.
Where the $337,000 went
State law splits every $100 penalty the same way. The school zone camera statute lets the city keep $60, and RedSpeed’s $21 fee comes out of that share. The city keeps about $44 of each $100 in the end, Phelps said.
| Where it goes | Per $100 | First-year total |
|---|---|---|
| City of Boca Raton, public safety | $39 | $131,430 |
| RedSpeed, program vendor | $21 | $70,770 |
| Florida Department of Revenue, General Revenue Fund | $20 | $67,400 |
| School District of Palm Beach County | $12 | $40,440 |
| City crossing guard recruitment and retention | $5 | $16,850 |
| FDLE training trust fund | $3 | $10,110 |
| Total | $100 | $337,000 |
The school district’s share goes to school security, transportation and safer walking routes, the report says.
The new zones are in their warning period
Three more school zones came online Monday, Nov. 9:
- Blue Lake Elementary School
- Calusa Elementary School
- Omni Middle School and Spanish River Community High School, which share one zone
They have a 20 mph limit when the lights flash. For the first 30 days, drivers get warnings only, Phelps said. Our earlier story on the new cameras has their hours.
Council member Stacy Sipple asked whether Boca Raton Community Middle School has a camera. It does not, she was told. No one spoke during public comment, according to the city’s video of the meeting.
What it means for you
- Slow down at J.C. Mitchell. Northwest Fifth Avenue outside the school produced more notices than the other two zones combined.
- Know the hours. The cameras run only from 30 minutes before to 30 minutes after the start and end of the school day, when the lights flash.
- Do not ignore a notice. State law gives you 30 days to pay, contest it or file an affidavit naming another driver. After that, a notice can become a uniform traffic citation with court fees. The link to the clerk’s office that was missing in the first year is now in place, Phelps said.
- Contesting rarely works. Of 22 notices contested at a hearing, 21 were upheld.
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