Sugar Mill Elementary wants to remove monument honoring ShaoLan Kamaly
On Monday night, Tara Okhovatian placed a ghost bike outside Sugar Mill Elementary to honor ShaoLan Kamaly, a student who was struck and killed by a car near the Port Orange campus last spring while riding her bike to school.
However, the school informed Okhovatian on Wednesday morning that the monument had to be “picked up.”
Okhovatian, who lives in Daytona Beach, was friends with Kamaly and her father, Keivan Kamaly. She told the News-Journal that she babysat Kamaly while her father was at work and that her 4-year-old son, Rumi, enjoyed playing with the 10-year-old.
“I liked her immediately. … She told me that she didn’t really like that princesses did nothing but waited for men to save them,” Okhovatian said. “And I just thought that she had captured my heart from the first moment I met her, that she had so much strength in her and was just a phenomenal person with a charming voice and infectious laugh. Her smile lit up her room.”
Okhovatian said it was “difficult” without Kamaly.
“It’s devastating that we lost her,” she said. “And it comes in waves. I’m still processing it in my own way.”
The driving force behind the Ghost Bike Memorial movement was an important help for Okhovatian in coming to terms with Kamaly’s death.
“We must not forget,” she said. “This was an important person and she deserves respect and a memorial.”
Ghost bikes, painted white and bearing a plaque, serve as a memorial to people who have been hit or killed while riding a bicycle. They are usually placed near a street sign where the accident occurred.
“This was not a new concept that we came up with,” Okhovatian said. “Something like this already exists around the world to commemorate people who lost their lives on bicycles.”
The ghost bike memorial at Sugar Mill Elementary was initially placed at the stop sign closest to the crash scene. Police later moved it to the school’s fence. And now it must be removed from the site by Okhovatian or police.
“We understand the great care and thought that went into creating this memorial. However, we want to consider the emotional impact on students, staff and families as they enter school grounds each day,” said Danielle Johnson, Volusia County Schools public relations director, in an email. “In collaboration with the parent advisory board and the family, we are working to find a meaningful way to honor the student on school grounds. To that end, the school has been in touch with the individual who left the bike to provide them with an opportunity to retrieve it before notifying police of the need to return it to the individual.
“Sugar Mill Elementary and VCS remain committed to finding a way to remember the student who brings comfort to all in our community,” Johnson continued. “We will provide more information to the school community once plans for an official memorial service are finalized.”
Okhovatian is confident that Kamaly will continue to be recognized.
“I was so distraught over the loss and dealing with everything,” she said. “And I’m confident that the community will recognize her, given the love that is expressed in her. … And I believe in good, so I think the good will shine through.”
News from Sugar Mill Elementary School
Johnson told the News-Journal that Volusia County Schools began conducting a two-phase traffic engineering study on Aug. 15, consisting of a lidar scan and a subsequent site survey.
“The second phase is when they actually do an observation. So this is more of a longer-term project because, of course, all the kids and all the cars have to be there to do an observation,” said Captain Todd Smith, the district’s safety director, at the June 25 school board meeting.
Johnson also told the News-Journal that Sugar Mill Elementary now has additional signage and more speed bumps in the parent loop. Updates to parking and parent loop procedures have also been completed.
In addition, Port Orange Police, Volusia County Schools, Volusia Sheriff’s Office and Volusia County Transportation hosted a final meeting in July that was open to parents and community members.
Memorial bike tour
Critical Mass Daytona Beach is hosting a memorial bike ride in honor of Kamaly on September 21st at 2:30 p.m.
The bike ride begins at Reed Canal Park. The first stop is Sugar Mill Elementary, where a moment of silence will be held in honor of Kamaly. The cyclists then ride to Sugar Mill Gardens and then back to Reed Canal Park.
