Communication to the North Adams School Committee

The proposed North Adams school committee position statement on gun safety (adopted at the Feb 5 meeting) is a two-part statement. The first part urges congress to adopt legislation banning the sale & possession of military assault weapons, banning the sale and possession of high capacity magazines and requiring every gun buyer to pass a criminal background check. Military assault weapons and high-capacity magazines are potential risks to the safety of school children - less of them increases the safety of school children - universal criminal background checks increases the safety of school children – it’s not the answer to everything, but it's an important piece of increasing the safety of children. Anything that potentially increases the safety of school children I am for.

The second part of the position statement addresses the NRA endorsement of staffing armed guards at all schools. That more guns and more armed guards equals increased safety of school children. North Adams has a full-time community police officer on site serving as first responder and providing a number of other student safety-related services. Having a police presence on site is very different than having armed guards at the doors of all our schools. What the NRA proposed would expand the use of armed officers and make greater use of not just police officers, but armed volunteers - including retired police officers and reservists - to patrol school grounds. It would include NRA volunteers to help guard children. I don’t believe that adding more guns and more armed guards in the schools is the best strategy for making the schools safer, but in fact would do just the opposite. The position statement does not say schools should not have armed security personnel. What it does say is that it is our position is that this is not the most effective strategy for protecting our children. The most effective strategy is what North Adams is doing; including securing facilities by locking all doors during school in session times, having a community police officer on site serving as a first responder, having a sound emergency plan in place with a fully-trained staff, and having a direct communication protocol in place with our local emergency service providers.

Decisions for effective strategies for school safety should be made at the local level by school committees and this position supports that local decision process. If the position statement is approved, the next step would be sending it to our legislators to urge their support of legislation on gun safety – to Rep. Cariddi, to Sen Downing & to US Rep Neal. Leave the politics to the legislators –speak for the school children by supporting legislation that increases the safety of school children. Don’t stand back and do nothing.

On behalf of the nearly 1600 school children we’re responsible for in North Adams, I ask for your support of adoption of the proposed school committee position on gun safety. (approved 5-2 at the Feb 5 School Committee Meeting)