LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Safety improvements are being made near Lake Minneola High following the death of a student who was hit by a school bus.
From new signs to improved lighting, Lake County and its school district are teaming up to make the changes about a month after a 17-year-old student — Sherman Vannoy, a senior at Lake Minneola High School — was struck and killed by a school bus while riding his bicycle on a crosswalk.
Kirstina Cumbie, a Lake Minneola High School parent, told News 6 that the community needs people to slow down.
“We have so many kids crossing at pitch black in the morning,” Cumbie said. “We need more police presence so that there are visuals for the drivers to know that they need to slow down.”
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Improvements include new painted stop and yield signs as well as scheduled lighting at the school’s athletic complex, to be on until 7:30 a.m. each day until permanent lighting can be installed. County officials want to extend the lighting past Big Sky Drive and Gatewood Avenue, too.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office also reportedly plans to increase deputy presence at the school until the lighting is installed.
Joanna O’ Halloran said she remembers the morning Vannoy was hit and killed by a bus driver while riding his bike on the way to Lake Minneola High School.
“That morning I dropped my daughter off at the Minneola athletic complex and watched her walk,” O’Halloran said. “Shortly after, we saw lots of police cars and police presence come by and we didn’t know why until later in the day.”
O’Halloran said since Vannoy’s death she and other concerned parents started an organization called Hawk Eye Parents. She said their mission is to educate kids on how to stay safe — especially when biking or walking to school.
“We are going to be tireless, tirelessly working to make sure that everything that is requested is put into action in a timely manner so that our kids could be safe and go to school and feel that security and parents know that their kids are going to come home at the end of the day,” O’Halloran said.
She said ever since the accident, she has been nervous to let her child walk to school.
“I have recently ironed on some reflective patches onto my daughter’s backpack, much to her dismay, and I also sent her with a flashlight to school, and I teach her about safety awareness on a daily basis,” O’Halloran said.
Minneola City Councilman Erick Hernandez said that after Vannoy’s death it has been all hands on deck to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“As you can see, we have already started some of the actions by striping the streets, by changing out some of the signs, and all that couldn’t be possible though without the great leadership here in Lake County,” Hernandez said. “And again, it’s unfortunate that this happened, but I’m glad that now we’re all stepping up to ensure that this doesn’t happen again here in Minneola or anywhere in Lake County.”
If you are a parent and interested in joining Hawk Eye Parents, send them an email at hawkeyeparents1@gmail.com.
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