The School Board of Manatee County is asking for the return of a controversial school zone speed camera program that county officials recently ended.
In a March 24 letter to the Manatee County Commission, School Board Chairman Chad Choate III urged county commissioners to bring the cameras back in a limited capacity — requesting that they only operate during school zone hours.
In November, the county began to use dozens of cameras to help deputies issue tickets to anyone driving 10 miles per hour over the speed limit in school zones. Six months later, county commissioners got rid of the program after drivers racked up $5.5 million in fines and residents complained that it was a “money grab.”…