CARY - Parents at one Cary elementary school are taking school security into their own hands – but they won’t be going vigilante.

Fearing that Turner Creek Elementary School isn’t due for security upgrades any time soon, the school’s Parent-Teacher Association is trying to raise at least $15,000 for security and safety changes, potentially including fencing around a playground, electronic locks and an upgraded surveillance system.

“Unfortunately, Wake County has their hands full, so we wanted to do as much as we can to help alleviate some of the security challenges,” said Beth Olevano, a parent of two Turner Creek boys.

To fund the upgrades, the PTA will turn to Frogapalooza, an annual event expected to draw hundreds of visitors to the school on Saturday.

In the past, proceeds from Frogapalooza have paid for interactive whiteboards, sun screens and other improvements. This year, ticket sales for the event, which will include international food and cultural exhibits, may go toward a security upgrade.

The school’s assistant principal, Doug Cox, was not available for comment last week on how the school would spend the money. Samiha Khanna, a school-system spokeswoman, said the school’s administration had not finalized a wish list, and that the school and PTA would discuss the proposed projects after the fundraiser.

Once the money’s available, school system staff will review any proposed changes.

“It all depends on the situation,” Khanna said.

At Turner Creek, parents’ and administrators’ talk turned to safety concerns in December, after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. For some in western Wake, the tragedy was a reminder of a 2010 murder-suicide at a nearby Target store.

“We had all been questioning the school administration and Wake County,” said Olevano, who is in charge of Frogapalooza. “We wanted to know what was being done.”

The school’s four mobile classrooms are a top concern, she said. The “pods” and the main building’s doors take two different sets of keys, increasing the chance that one will be left unlocked.

It’s now standard to install keyless electronic locks in new schools, but Turner Creek was built in 2004.

“We want to make it easier and safer for kids to come into the school, and to prevent people from coming into the schools,” Olevano said.

She sees the event as a way for the school to address its needs without waiting for a lengthy district-wide budgeting system. The fundraiser isn’t meant as a political point – it’s a practical solution to a pressing problem, Olevano said, though she believes the county and the town of Cary could put more emphasis on school security.

“Wake County could have a definitely bigger role,” she said. “I understand it does have a lot on its plate, and so, right now … as a member of the PTA, I’m mostly focused on my children and the school that they attend.”

Turner Creek and the rest of the county’s elementary schools also are the subject of another discussion about security: With few exceptions, Wake’s elementary schools don’t have school resource officers, the armed police officers most often seen in high schools.

A school district staff proposal to put unarmed guards in all schools stalled at the Wake County Board of Education last month, drawing criticism from board members and parents who said it did too much or too little.

The school board and the Wake County Sheriff’s Office have since formed a committee to investigate school security. The Turner Creek parents say it will be up to the town and the school system to put a security guard in elementary schools.

But in the meantime, they’ve got a plan of their own.