School and Student Safety
All children deserve to learn in a safe and secure environment. Berrien County education leaders are committed to that end and have developed a strong working relationship with the Michigan State Police, Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, countywide emergency response personnel, and local municipal police offices. Together with authorities, school districts have developed emergency response plans and work to educate staff and students with routine safety training and practice drills.
Over the past few years, legislators have discussed a number of strategies to help schools prepare and defend themselves should an act of violence occur on school grounds. While appreciative of recent grants awarded to schools to upgrade security systems and facilities, legislation that promotes gun access continues to be introduced. Berrien County superintendents feel strongly that guns do not belong in our schools, even with a permit.
Call to Action
- DO NOT authorize permits for conceal and carry opportunities on school grounds.
- Provide specific and sustained funding so that a school resource officer can be available in every school district.
- Provide support for continued staff and student school crisis training (school violence, weather drills, staging for reunification process, etc.).
- Provide funding for schools to annually test water and offer support should PFAs, lead or any other contaminant need to be mitigated.
Did you know?
The Columbine High School shooting occurred on April 20, 1999. Nineteen years later, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting occurred. According to a 2018 study from Pew Research, 57 percent of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 say they are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting happening at their school, and parents of children within the same age range feel the same way.
According to the Everytown for Gun Safety Fund, the best way to protect American children and schools from shootings is to pass comprehensive gun safety laws that can prevent people with dangerous histories from ever getting a gun, some examples of which include:
- Background checks on all gun sales.
- Red Flag laws (empowers family members and law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily block a person from having guns if they pose a danger to themselves or others).
- Keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.
- Raise the minimum age to 21 years old for the purchase of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns to match the minimum purchase age for handguns.
- Enact responsible Storage & Child Access Prevention laws.
- Offer responsible Storage Public Awareness programs.