ORLANDO, Fla. — Based on recent town halls, parents and teachers have major concerns about discipline and safety at Orange County schools.

The new superintendent Maria Vazquez said she wants to bring representatives from all parts of the community together to confront the issue and reduce incidents of violence. 

A shooting outside of a basketball game at Wekiva High School on Friday heightened concerns, and it wasn’t the first. There was another shooting outside a high school football playoff game at Jones High School in November.

Laura Buck said she worries about the safety of her two young daughters, Violet and Lilly, every day she sends them to school.

“They’re acclimated to the drills,” Buck said. “They don’t like them — but they do them because they know that’s what’s going to keep them safe right now. That’s the best we have, and my thing is, I know we can do better.”

Buck, a member of Moms Demand Action, advocates for gun safety to curb the violence.

“They’re too easy to obtain. They’re too easy to use. And that’s why we have this situation where kids are not fully educated on the impact and permanency of this weapon,” she said.

The task force planned by Vazquez will include teachers, parents, mental health professionals, law enforcement and members of the faith-based community, she said at Tuesday’s school board meeting.

“This is not a quick fix,” Vazquez said. “It’s going to require a multi-prong approach.”

District 3 school board member Melissa Byrd said her daughter goes to Wekiva High School where the latest shooting occurred.

“Kids are trying to solve these bigger issues that are happening outside of school with violence, and so we really have to start a bigger discussion about how to help these kids find other ways to solve their problems,” Byrd said.

Buck said the more her girls grow up, the more she realizes she has less control over their safety. That’s why she wants to make sure the school district is doing what it needs to do to ensure schools are safe.

“Social activities like going to basketball games and football games — that should be safe. And it’s just heartbreaking when you know that’s not the case right now,” Buck said.

The superintendent told school board members she wants each of them to think of members of the community they believe should be on the discipline and safety task force and the priorities they’d like to see addressed. The school board will move closer to forming the task force at its next workshop session in late January.