OCALA, FL (352today.com) – A recent tragic incident which saw an 18-year-old high school senior lose her life, inspired a discussion about safety at the Marion County Public School Board meeting Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.

The funeral Nov. 8, 2025, for Forest High School student Shannon Rushing, who was struck by a vehicle while walking to a bus stop and died as a result of her injuries, serves as a somber reminder for both drivers and pedestrians, particularly in certain locations.

Marion County Public School Board Member Rev. Eric Cummings, District no. 3, led the service for Rushing at First Baptist Church of Ocala and was recognized and thanked by MCPS Board Vice Chair Lori Conrad.

Safety has become a significant challenge, with the school district receiving multiple alerts, and those operating a motor vehicle need to remain vigilant when driving, particularly in the morning, said Dr. Allison Campbell, MCPS board member District no. 1.

“We’ve had multiple traffic incidents, we’ve had a fatality which was terrible, but there have been multiple traffic events involving students walking to bus stops,” said Campbell. “It seems unusual because we’ve had so many this year. We need to ensure we’re doing something to teach our students to walk against traffic. It’s actually something I see every morning on my walks in my own neighborhood. My own neighbors don’t know to walk against traffic.”

There seems to be some confusion on the part of the general public regarding walking rules as opposed to rules that apply to riding a bicycle.

“But even when it’s a riding bike rule, they are riding with traffic, and that means that folks need to be paying extra attention in the mornings,” said Campbell. “Please, be alert, if you’re driving anywhere near a school or a bus stop area, our children deserve better, and we need to ensure that we’re protecting them. That doesn’t just mean whenever they enter our campus, we as a community need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to ensure our students are protected and safe.”

MCPS Board Member Nancy Thrower, District no. 4, echoed the sentiments of Dr. Campbell, that drivers should be circumspect in their actions and place an emphasis on slowing down and keeping one’s mind on their driving.

“We’re all guilty of multitasking and trying to squeeze the most out of every minute,” said Thrower. “Just imagine as you’re multitasking away, and a terrible accident happens, you’re not going to be doing a lot of multitasking things that you thought were so important. As our community continues to grow, and our traffic continues to increase… Our roads are only going to get more crowded. I hope everyone can make a new commitment to themselves and to each other, to just really be focused on the one task, which is the driving task when you’re on the road.”

Marion County Public School’s Interim Superintendent Dr. Danielle Brewer is working on a public service announcement regarding safety.

School Board Chair Dr. Sarah James said that safety needs to be a community conversation and asked the board if it was possible for a joint workshop with the county and its municipalities in the spring of 2026, to talk about pedestrian safety.

“We are hearing of pedestrians being struck by vehicles all across the county both in the city and the county,” said James. “I do think it could be a shared mutual thought process as a joint workshop.”