On Feb. 14, 2018, tragedy struck all parents of the children of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. A former student armed with a rifle opened fire on defenseless students and teachers.
When parents send their students to school, we hope that the school environment will remain safe and free from outside dangers. Sadly, when it comes to school shootings, we continue to see time and time again that this is not the case.
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As a parent of two young children and being a resident of Weston, Fla., the Parkland events really hit home. For those unfamiliar with South Florida, Weston is no more than 20 minutes from Parkland, and it is a very similar town demographically. The same thought ran on repeat in my mind: Wow, that absolutely could have been us, yet nothing is seemingly preventing that from being us.
So, I decided to take my children’s school safety into my own hands. I decided to secure my school.
Before moving forward with this endeavor, my vision was to challenge the administration at my children’s school in such a way that forced them to look internally at their procedures as it relates to overall security. Complacency creates the environment that is vulnerable to a harmful event such as a school shooting. Prior to reaching out to the administration for the school, I did stop and question whether it was appropriate to question these procedures. Though when it comes to the safety of my children, all tact should go out the window if it results in a more safe and secure environment. So off I went.
Feb. 15: I sent an email to the principal of the school requesting information on the security procedure in place. That same day I received an email back from the principal advising that my inquiry be best addressed by the school’s director.
Feb. 20: The director called and let me know that the school does have security procedures in place, but the administration will be convening in the coming days to refine that procedure. I requested that the administration schedule a security meeting with the parents to review the existing procedures.
Feb. 26: I received a call from the director in response to my request for a parent security meeting, but was informed that the school would be unable to accommodate my request. In response, I challenged the director and demanded that the school offer this meeting because this is too important of an issue for parents not to be involved. The director stated that she will review this request again with the administration.
March 9: Nearly two weeks had passed since my request for a parent meeting, so I sent a follow-up email to the director requesting a response per our prior phone call.
March 10: The director emailed me advising that she will discuss with the principal prospective dates for the security meeting and will get back to me.
March 14: I received a phone call from the director confirming that the security meeting will take place on April 10 and an email will be circulated to all parents.
April 10: The school administration held the security informational meeting for all interested parents. Initially, I was skeptical and concerned that I would be the only parent in attendance that presumably had an interest and concern with my children’s school security procedures. Upon entering the meeting, I was blown away by the turnout and the enthusiasm of all parents. The nature of the meeting was a “town hall” format where all parents had unlimited time to ask questions and gather information on the security procedures at the school.
At the outset of this security meeting, the administration provided each parent with the current school security policy for review. Then, the principal, director, and two other administration staff members fielded questions from the parents. The transparency of the administration regarding the procedures was a pleasant sight. The administration fully explained the genesis of the procedures and the recent actions taken to ensure they are up to date on all facets of school security. They also fielded suggestions from parents on additional measures to be considered.
I am presenting this anecdotal story to encourage all parents to challenge their schools to implement competent security procedures. In doing so, your school will continue to refine and be ever so diligent in the enforcement of security procedures to protect our children.
Unfortunately, the words “Secure My School” do not yet resonate with school administrations in terms of providing and enforcing comprehensive security procedures. However, the more parents ensure their voice is heard, the more likely it is that three simple words, Secure My School, can spark a movement to protect all children right now.
Brandon Stein, an attorney, is a parent in South Florida.
