When I was a school administrator, I experienced two violent student deaths – one by stabbing and one by a gun shot. Those were the worst days of my professional career.
Last week, three children, ages 5, 8, and 11, and a teacher were shot by a 16-year-old gunman in Bend, Oregon.
EducationWeek reports that American public schools have encountered 26 mass shootings in 2026, resulting in 17 people killed with 26 injured. Of the 267 shootings EducationWeek has tracked since 2018, at least 20 have been at elementary schools.
In an article published last Friday by EducationWeek,
“’What happened yesterday, with the age of these children, brings us right back to 2012 with Sandy Hook,’ Jaclyn Schildkraut, the executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, said, referencing the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in which a 20-year-old shot and killed 20 first grade children and six staff members.”
“’There tends to be a lot of outcry: If we’re not protecting our most vulnerable, then who are we protecting?’”
“’When Uvalde happened, we thought, ‘This has to make a change,’ said Kevin Lein, founding member of the National Principals Association’s Principal Recovery Network, a support for school leaders who have survived school shootings.”
The 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas killed 19 students and two teachers.
“’When Sandy Hook happened, ‘This has to make a change,’ Hein continued. ‘And it doesn’t.’”
Every time a school shooting happens, gun right advocates and the conservative right calls for prayers and understanding. They also call for schools to become “harder,” meaning that campuses should introduce metal detectors, police officers, and armed teachers.
From experience, making schools “harder” won’t work. Have you ever tried to take 2,500 students through metal detectors at 8 A.M. in the morning?
When I was a school principal and a region superintendent, I tried to convince myself my kids were safe when they entered my school(s).
The truth is I was lying to myself.
The two students who died from knife wounds and a gun shot were reminders that I, and others like me, couldn’t protect kids enough so their families wouldn’t be worried about something bad happening to their son or daughter at a place called school.
And I bet if you ask school principals today, most of them would tell you that their kids are not safe in the schools they lead.
So, what is a family to do? What options do families have if sending their children to school is unsafe enough that they don’t know if their son or daughter will live to the dismissal bell?
The only option I can think of is this:
Do not send your child to these places called school. You cannot replace your children should anything bad happen.
There are other options today to sending your child to place called school – homeschooling, microschools and learning pods (much smaller, much safer), and other out-of-school choices.
The fact of the matter is that anyone who tells you your child is safe in school is lying to you.
I know, because I was that person.
Til tomorrow. SVB
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