A little more than a month ago, Tina Bannon decided to take a stand.
After a successful bid for change, she’s hoping to continue the trend through the formation and expansion of Parents Together Okaloosa County.
“The idea behind it, really, is to be kind of a district-wide PTO,” the Crestview mother said. “The whole emphasis is to get the community involved.”
In early October, Bannon posted on Facebook looking for other parents who were dissatisfied with the lack of cameras on school buses. Soon after, she urged the School Board to take a hard look at school bus safety.
One meeting later, at the request of Vice Chairwoman Cindy Frakes, the board voted to set aside money to buy cameras for school buses. Even with funding assistance from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the district needs more money to purchase cameras for all the buses.
Bannon is willing to help raise the money through fundraisers. Once that’s done, Parents Together Okaloosa County will move forward on other issues identified at monthly meetings.
“I don’t want it to just be the negative stuff,” Bannon said. “I want it to be the positive stuff, too.”
Fellow parent Maureen Dunlevy didn’t hesitate to get involved, and hopes the group can look at ways parents can help reduce bullying.
“I’m overly protective of my children,” the mother of two said with a smile.
Bannon and Dunlevy have created a Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentstogetherokaloosacounty/.
They also plan to hold a meet-and-greet Dec. 5 for interested residents.
“The more community support we have, the better we can support the school district,” Bannon said.
WANT TO GO? The meet-and-greet will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at Buffalo Wild Wings in Fort Walton Beach.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.