so this happened last weekend and its been bugging me. i was flying at this open field near a school ? it was a saturday, school was obviously closed, no one around ? and a police officer pulled up and asked what i was doing. i showed him my FAA registration card and he kind of looked at it and handed it back and said something like "you know you cant fly within a mile of a school" and i honestly had no idea if that was true or not so i just said sorry and packed up

when i got home i looked it up and i couldnt find any federal rule that says that specifically. is there actually a rule about schools? im in Texas btw. felt kind of bad because i wasnt sure if he was right or i was being pushed around for no reason. not trying to be difficult but also dont want to get a ticket for something im not even doing wrong

ugh this happens more than people realize. the honest answer is there is no blanket FAA rule about flying within a specific distance of schools. what exists is the requirement to fly below 400ft, stay out of controlled airspace without authorization, and not fly over people in certain contexts. schools arent specifically restricted zones under federal rules unless theyre inside controlled airspace for another reason like being near an airport.

Texas also doesnt have a state law specifically banning school proximity as far as im aware. now could a local ordinance exist in your city? possibly, thats worth checking. but what you probably ran into is a cop who either heard something incorrect, was going off vibes, or was just trying to get you to leave. happens constantly with drones because even a lot of law enforcement genuinely doesnt know the actual rules. keeping a printed copy of the relevant FAA regs on you isnt a bad idea if you want to be able to politely push back someday.

honestly i wouldve done the same thing you did, not worth the argument even if youre right. but yeah no theres no mile radius school rule federally, the officer was probably just improvising. the LAANC system and the FAA sectional charts are really the definitive things to check and schools arent on there as restricted areas unless somthing else is going on nearby