Parents of a local middle school in Hillsborough County are trying to raise their own money to hire a private crossing guard company to keep their kids safe.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office supplies crossing guards across elementary schools in the county. However, they do not have a program in place for middle and high schools.
Danielle Waymire of Valrico, has three children who go to Mulrennan Middle School off Durant Road.
"A child's going to get hit," she said, "and it's not worth it."
Waymire is outside the school's crosswalk twice a day to help watch kids get across safely, but she's captured many close calls.
"We have people who stop and literally will drive through our crosswalk while children are present," she added.
Waymire has rallied parents together to work to fund a private company, the Crossing Guard Company, to help get children safely across three different crosswalks around the school.
Parents are planning a fundraiser through a dodgeball tournament to raise the money.
So far, in 24 hours, they've raised $500 of their $13,000 goal on a website called dodgeball2you.com.
In their post they wrote:
On Thursday, January 17, 2019, Mulrennan Middle School needs your help! We will be holding a Dodgeball2You Dodgathon Fundraiser to raise money for crossing guards for the remainder of our school year. We are the first Public School in Hillsborough County to use a private crossing guard company. This will allow us to have crossing guards at all three of our crosswalks. Our students will be able to arrive and leave school in a safer school zone. We are Dodging Balls Not Cars. We appreciate your support in helping to keep our students safe! Our goal is $13,000!!This year we would like to extend our fundraising efforts out to our local community and businesses who may not have a child going to our school but would still like to support our children! We are calling it “Dodge Balls Not Cars, Safety Donation.”
For a link to the fundraiser, click here.
The password for access: 075023
A spokesperson for Hillsborough County schools said they aware of the efforts, and released this statement:
The district is providing the conditions for the school to hire a vendor as a contracted service. We have to ensure they are certified by the Florida Department of Transportation and have insurance. And then the parents are in the process of fundraising for this contracted service.
