PARKLAND, FLA. (WSVN) - The parents of two victims of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have filed papers to run for positions on the Broward County School Board.
Lori Alhadeff and Ryan Petty both filed as candidates for the school board in districts 4 and 8. Both parents lost their 14-year-old daughters, Alyssa Alhadeff and Alaina Petty, in the Feb. 14 shooting. A total of 17 people were killed in the massacre.
The two parents said they hope to make sure a tragedy like this doesn’t happen again, and students like accused shooter Nikolas Cruz don’t fall through the cracks in the school system.
“I do not want any other parent to go through the pain and anguish that I go through every day,” Alhadeff said. “I do not want any child to ever have to say to their mom, ‘Mommy, am I gonna die today when I go to school?’ That is why I’m running for school board.”
Petty said he hopes to honor his daughter by improving the Broward school system.
“There is a lot more to do, and that’s why I’m filing to run for school board, so I can have a seat at the table, so I can represent parents all over the district who deserve to have their children come home to them every afternoon after school,” Petty said.
The candidates’ words echo what they said in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
“We must be the last families to lose loved ones to mass murder in a school. This time must be different,” Petty said after the shooting.
Alhadeff will be going up against incumbent Abby Freedman, who has yet to file for re-election. Petty will be going up against incumbent Donna Korn and will also have to face off against 19-year-old Elijah Manley.
Primary elections for the school board will take place Aug. 28.
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