LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — More than a week after 15-year-old Aspen Runnels was fatally hit while crossing the street outside Lakota East's freshman campus, a Tri-State mom is calling on the Lakota Local School District and area governments to do more to keep kids safe.
Trisha Parnell started a Change.org petition calling for added infrastructure around the district's schools and additional funding from the state for busing so kids are less likely to need to walk home.
"What we have going on doesn't work," Parnell said.
She has lead the charge for change within the district because she knows what it's like to have a child hit by a car.
Her daughter Madisyn Beare was hit while crossing the street outside Lakota West in 2018.
"It just makes me so sick that another student had to suffer even worse than what my child did," Parnell said.
Beare survived the crash but wasn't able to walk for two months and was forced into more than a year of physical therapy before she could return to a sense of normalcy.
"I flew 84 feet down the road," Beare said.
She broke her pelvis in three places, her ankle in two places, her collarbone, fractured her shoulder blade and tore her ACL, but she survived.
Beare was horrified to hear Runnels hadn't survived his crash.
"I was filled with this crushing dread of, oh my god, it happened again," Beare said.
Parnell said the district should encourage nearby police departments to place an officer at the intersection during start and release times, and they should add traffic-calming measures like temporary speed bumps, noise making grooves or much more attention grabbing signs to reduce distracted driving incidents.
"A mother has to say goodbye to their child. It's not fair," she said.
The Lakota Local School District issued a statement in response to the petition:
The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority. We have already reached out to both West Chester and Liberty townships to discuss pedestrian safety measures around our schools. Both townships, as well as the Butler County Engineer’s office, have been agreeable to installing flashing lights at crosswalks near our high schools in the past. This ongoing discussion will take time and will continue this summer. As always, we implore drivers to use caution when driving in our school zones, especially during arrival and dismissal.
