Tri-Cities superintendent speeding in school zone slapped with $248 ticket
Police issued a Tri-Cities superintendent a $248 ticket last month for speeding through a West Richland school zone.
An officer parked near Desert Sky Elementary clocked Richland School District Superintendent Shelley Redinger going 30 in a 20-mph zone while she was headed southbound on Belmont Boulevard.
Under state law, speeding penalties are doubled when infractions are committed in school zones.
Redinger told the Tri-City Herald on Tuesday that she sees this as a learning opportunity.
“It’s a good reminder that we really need to slow down,” she said. “I appreciate that we have the school zones and that our police are enforcing them. I’m not challenging the ticket. I’m typically a conservative driver, but in this circumstance I was just driving too fast.”
She was stopped at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 15, according to a police narrative.
A West Richland officer was parked along Belmont near Kilawea Drive when they spotted a vehicle approaching from behind, headed south toward Keene Road, and travelling at “a rapid pace.”
Her white sedan stopped to let students cross at a crosswalk within the school zone, and “as soon as the roadway was clear accelerated quickly,” said the report.
The officer pulled her over at the intersection of Belmont and Kona Drive.
Redinger told the officer she did not see the radar reading. There are multiple school zone signs and flashing lights along Belmont as drivers approach the area, the officer wrote.
She told the Herald that she drives the route daily to get to the district office at 6972 Keene Road.
Redinger oversees the district of about 13,800 students. The Richland School Board hired her in 2020, and she announced last month plans to “pursue other opportunities” after her contract ends in summer 2027.
Last year, the school board declined a routine contract extension for her amid the district’s budget woes and lackluster student achievement growth.
Redinger said in January she decided not to pursue a contract extension with the board.
