Sunday, November 17, 2019

Ga. School District Arms Teachers

Compare the response at Laurens County, Georgia to the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida with the response of the Richland 2 School District.

CBS46 News reported on November 13, 2019 with this headline:

Locked and loaded: CBS46 goes inside the first Georgia school district to arm its teachers


Read the story here.

What happened at the Richland 2 School Board meeting on February 27, 2018, when I proposed to the Board that it survey teachers, staff, parents and community members on the topic of arming teachers and staff?

You can view my remarks to the Board on the YouTube recording of the February 27, 2018 meeting here. Fast-forward to 30:05 on the counter to hear my comments.

What was the response from the Board? Nothing. Zip. Nada.

The CBS46 article reads, in part, "Laurens County Schools Superintendent, Dr. Dan Brigman spearheaded the initiative in 2018..."

Although then-Board Chair Craig Plank said in his remarks introducing the Public Participation segment that "...someone from the District office will be reaching out to you at the conclusion of your remarks or at a later date..." No one contacted me until after I emailed Mr. Plank to let him know that I had not been contacted. Very quickly thereafter, Supt. Davis called to tell me there would be no survey. I wondered when the Board decided that!

The article about the Georgia school district continued, "After weeks of research and planning, the initiative was voted on by the Board of Education in April of 2018. It passed unanimously..."

Should this be considered in Richland 2? Contact your elected Board members.

And post your comment below. Unless you assemble with other concerned parents and voters here, nothing will change.