For the longest time, I’ve felt like our district’s approach to safety is disingenuous. The recent discovery of a gun in a student’s backpack at MBMS only reinforces that suspicion. While the situation wasn’t as dangerous as it sounds, (the gun was unloaded, and there’s no indication that it was part of a coordinated attack), it raises serious questions about how much our district truly values student safety.
To be clear, the situation diud not result in harm but still poses as a safety issue to students and staff at the middle school. According to Superintendent John Bowes, staff disarmed the student immediately and the police arrived within minutes of the incident.
I’m less concerned with how the situation was handled and more concerned with how the situation was communi-
cated. The district didn’t notify parents or students until after MBMS Back-To-School Night had already taken place. If a firearm on campus wasn’t enough to shut down an event where hundreds of families were gathered, what would be? Do the bullets need to be on campus? Does the gun have to be loaded? Do we have to wait until there’s an active shooter before we start canceling school events?
We have safety drills and protocols, but they seem to matter only when it’s convenient. We have a Sprigeo link for anonymous tips about threats, but I can’t remember the last time the school actually reminded us to use it. With threats like these, safety protocol and communication is vital.
It’s hard not to feel like the district values optics over transparency. Superintendent Bowes’ emails, in response to the event, were carefully worded to reassure parents that the campus was “safe, secure, and operating on its regular schedule.” But that “reassuring” message feels hollow. A firearm was discovered on campus, and we were left wondering why it took so long for us to be informed.
Apparently, a school event going well was more important than informing parents about their childrens’ safety. Students, no older than 14, were casually walking to class, oblivious to the fact that if that gun had been loaded and its posessor had decided to use it, that could’ve very well been their last time going to school.
Transparency matters, and so does consistency. If we’re expected to trust the district to keep us safe, we need more than polished and punctual statements after a threat like that.
This time, things weren’t as serious as they could have been, but that’s not an excuse to be complacent. It shouldn’t take a crisis to start rethinking the way the district and families communicate.
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