Our schools are no longer safe because our society is no longer safe. I’m not sure we can control or do much about the latter, but we can definitely do something about the former. It’s time for the taxpayers in each community to demand school safety improvements, and to pay for them themselves with “safety levy” dollars. Such improvements must include physical upgrades such as single points of entry with metal detectors, secure boundary fences, doors that can be locked from a single office location, and additional staff to help with screening and monitoring during the school day.
Safety upgrades should also include hiring additional counseling staff to serve the needs of our increasingly troubled youth, and training for all staff to help identify and “red flag” students who might be at risk.
My son teaches in a large public high school. His classroom is on street level with floor to ceiling windows. Anybody could park on a nearby street, walk down the public sidewalk, and create unspeakable mayhem in his classroom in a matter of seconds before anything could be done about it. Those windows should be bulletproof, don’t you think? That kind of upgrade isn’t the responsibility of some elected official in Washington, D.C; it’s our responsibility. It’s your responsibility.
If you’re thinking “it would never happen here”, you might be right. But I wouldn’t bet your kids’ lives on it. It happened at my former school, Marysville Pilchuck High School, on Oct. 24, 2014. Tragically, that school still isn’t even close to being physically secure. The upgrades I’m talking about are expensive, to be sure. How much are we willing to pay to protect our kids and school staff with safer schools? Something can be done about it, but it isn’t up to “them.” It’s up to “us.”
Brian Kesler
Lake Stevens
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
