After Florida student hit by car in school lot, school board member calls for safety review

WINDERMERE, Fla. - As parents react to a recent incident in which a student was hit by a car in the Windermere High School parking lot, an Orange County School Board member said she takes school safety seriously and will look into it. Investigators say the student suffered minor injuries.

"Always hate to see anything like that happen," said school board member Angie Gallo, responding to Paul Walker's dashboard camera video of the 14-year-old student who was thrown up in the air after being stuck by the car.

"We take student safety very seriously here at OCPS, so it’s always concerning when we see a student hit while on our campus."

While Orange County school administrators said they will continue to reinforce pedestrian safety procedures with families and remind students to cross at marked crosswalks on campus, Gallo added, "We need to make sure we have the appropriate amount of personnel out in the parking lots during arrival and dismissal."

The parents we spoke to expressed great concern after watching the video.

"Oh wow! Oh my goodness!" Tehani Miceli said. "That’s terrible, that’s sad." 

Some worry another student could get hurt.

"We drop off our kids to the school hoping they're safe. But I mean this is really, really concerning," parent Leyna Khan said.
                                                             
There is no path or crosswalk in this parking lot, where some kids have to cross 15 lanes of traffic in the lot just to get inside the school.

"There need to be more options to get to school and get over the parking lot. That’s crazy," Miceli said.  "Hopefully they make some change."

Walker recommends the school open the back gate, so students have an additional way to get in and out of the parking lot. The district said it will take it under consideration. 

Gallo wants to remind everyone that a school campus is a hands-free zone meaning you can't drive and talk on the phone while holding it.