With Santa Clarita Valley school districts back in session, traffic is likely to pick up, and behaviors can change as schedules are adjusted, according to the experts.

Hart High started up Thursday. Photo courtesy of Hart High Twitter

The Department of Education offers numerous useful tips and pieces of advice for parents on a number of topics, such as bullying, communication, TV and internet usage and readying your kids for the transition from the summer-time schedule to classroom discipline.

“Parents who play an active role in their children’s education make a huge difference in their success,” according to the Homeroom website set up by the federal Department of Education.

One of the most important resources that School Resource Deputy Josh Clark wanted to share is an anonymous text-to-tip line for any campus concerns or issues. If someone texts to 661-772-7389, a message is sent to Hart district administrators and school resource deputies immediately notifying them of the issue.

Bullying

School staff and parents have an important role to play in the bullying conversation, according to StopBullying.org, including making sure that students and parents or staff are aware and discussing how bullying occurs, and that it’s unacceptable.

StopBullying created an animated series for small children (click here to view), and the federal Department of Health and Human Services has a few questions for parents intended to start the dialogue:

Do kids ever call you mean names, or tease you? Talk more about how you feel and what you do when this happens?

What do you usually do when you see bullying going on?

Have you ever been scared to go to school because you were afraid of being bullied? What ways have you tried to change it?

Rules and regulations

Hart High seniors posed for a first-day pic

One of the most common issues that ends up with a trip to the Student Responsibility Center — which has replaced the principal’s office as the waiting room for scofflaws and the unruly — is dress-code violations, said Deputy Clark, a school resource officer for Canyon High and Sierra Vista Junior High.

“Typically, most of the time (early in the school year), it’ll be our incoming freshman or some of our sophomores,” Clark said. “Apparently, when they got caught for dress code in junior high and then they come to high school, they think they can wear (banned items) — that’s not the case.”

Anything promoting drugs or alcohol, or “anything that endorses any sort of illegal contraband” is not allowed, he said. If a student is caught wearing an illicit shirt, they’ll be asked to go to the SRC and get a shirt from the district he or she must change into, then bring back and clean the next day, Clark added.

Cellphones are another common classroom issue, he said, noting cellphone use is allowed at lunch and during breaks, but parents should encourage their kids to restrict campus phone usage to emergency scenarios.

Pickups and dropoffs

The sites and parking in and around Santa Clarita Valley school sites during morning drop-off and dismissal times can be hectic, so carpooling is strongly encouraged.

“Allow yourself extra time, and please be patient with the traffic flow,” he said. “Pay attention to your loading zones and your drop-off zones. Watch out for kids in the crosswalk and drop off as close to the school as possible, he said.

Awareness is not just important for parents driving, Clark said. Kids need to be vigilant, also.

Last year, a 15-year-old Canyon High girl was approached by a man who was trying to get her in his car. The girl thought quickly, grabbed her camera phone and started recording. After the girl was able to get away, deputies used her footage to arrest a suspect.

Deputies also encourage students who are walking home to do so in groups, to encourage safety in numbers, Clark said.

And if students have any questions, they can always reach out to their school resource officer, he offered.

“Over the years, I’ve gotten to know a lot of kids, and gotten to know their parents,” Clark said. “We all have an open-door policy — they can talk to us about anything.”