Ensuring our children’s safety is top priority
My heart is broken for all the students, faculty, staff and parents of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Our community has been shaken to its core. Our children’s lives have been altered, all of our lives have been altered. Parkland and Broward County will never be the same. As Americans, we have seen this tragedy happen all too often and now it is here, in our community, at our school, with our neighbors.
There is nothing more important — nothing — than ensuring the safety of our children and staff when they go to school. We take this responsibility very seriously. All differences need to be pushed aside at a time like this to examine what we can do locally, across the state and in our country to ensure that students and staff are safe and secure when then leave their homes and enter our schools. This is a very complex discussion that cannot be boiled down to one or two hotly political, many times polarizing, topics.
It is encouraging that Gov. Rick Scott, Senate President Negron, and Speaker of the House Corcoran have made public statements that additional funds must be invested in safe schools and mental health services for our students, staff and community. It is my hope that our state and national leaders will finally prioritize all the needs of young people, which will include additional funding for law enforcement and other wrap-around services and supports to ensure all of our students are safe and provided the opportunity to get a great education. These are not luxuries. These are necessities.
Be assured that your school board and school district will be, first and foremost, listening to you, our community. Our schools are an integral part of our communities and if we are to have healthy communities, we must listen to each other. Not simply hear, but listen. We must listen not just to adults, but to our children, whose innocence was cut short by this week’s horrific acts. I know that they too have ideas on their safety and the safety of their teachers and peers. I can promise you that very soon we will provide an opportunity to hear from our community on how to move forward on school safety and mental health issues.
Our school district education professionals are highly trained to respond to crises. We had hoped, however, never to have them tap into those skills. This will be a long and difficult recovery for all of us, so please rely on our experts to help you and your children. We know that nothing can ever heal all the wounds that were sustained this week. However, we have supports and resources in place to help you address what happened with your children, to help your children regain a sense of normalcy, and to help you after such a tragedy. Please go to http:// browardschools.com/crisissupport to access our resources. Also, contact your child’s principal if you feel he or she needs support, a social worker or counselor.
The Broward County School Board feels tremendous grief and sorrow for the many family members, friends, classmates, teammates, peers, coworkers and others who are in pain and who loved Alyssa Alhadeff, Scott Beigel, Martin Duque Anguiano, Nicholas Dworet, Aaron Feis, Jaime Guttenberg, Chris Hixon, Luke Hoyer, Cara Laughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup, and Peter Wang. Their lives were incomprehensibly cut short and we will continue to mourn them. The loss of the light and promise of these lives has been felt in our community, our state and our country.
What also needs to be noted are the countless acts of heroism from our staff, first responders, teachers and students. Many of you put your life in danger to aid another person. On what was a tremendously painful, heart-shattering day of despair, humanity shone through with random acts of kindness, heroism and compassion.
We are One Broward, One Country, One World and together, we will heal.
Nora Rupert serves as chair of the Broward County School Board.