Students, lawmakers look at safety
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 23, 2018 5:50 AM
Students, their families, and others are expected to participate in March For Our Lives rallies nationwide Saturday to call for an end to mass school shootings and gun violence.
Locally, Wayne County Strong will host a March For Our Lives rally at 2 p.m. at the Mina WeilPark near the W.A.Foster Center off of South John Street.
The local rally will welcome students to air their views on the current environment in which they learn, said Bobby Jones, one of the organizers.
Kristiann Herring, another Wayne County Strong organizer, said the rally will be an avenue to bring the community together on common ground -- the safety of the children.
The rally comes just days after the N.C. House Select Committee on School Safety held its first meeting, and after several state Democratic lawmakers unveiled gun restriction and school safety proposals in response to the Florida school shooting, calling those "common sense" ideas that Republicans have already supported elsewhere.
The five House and Senate members from urban counties unveiled gun changes similar to those that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper announced last week that he wanted the GOP-controlled General Assembly to approve.
In addition, the legislators want more money to hire school psychologists and counselors. They also propose the state's Center for Safer Schools be tasked with determining how many more police officers in schools are needed.
"All of those ideas were brought up and put on the board," House Majority Leader John Bell, a member of the committee, said of the committee's daylong meeting on Wednesday. "We really tried to stay away from the political talking points. We allowed members to speak and allowed everybody's voice to be heard about things that they are concerned about.
"Not just the Democratic, but everybody's ideas were put on the board for discussion. Those ideas range from mental health to school safety -- actually range from school resource officers, training, funding."
It looked as well at general statutes -- do district attorneys have the tools to prosecute somebody who makes a threat toward a school, Bell said.
As for gun control, Bell said he thinks that discussion would be more in the second to third tier of "bigger conversations."
"You are not going to have anybody agree on immediate direction right there as we go into session in about a month and a half," Bell said. "I just don't see anybody agreeing on anything on the gun control talking points right now. I think they are longer, bigger-picture items that will take a lot more discussion."
Rep. Jimmy Dixon of Mount Olive, who is also on the committee, spoke about how solutions will need to be organized in tiers.
Dixon said he tries to compartmentalize what the issue is to start with in order to set the tone to the way he approaches it.
"My assessment is that the issue is school safety," Dixon said. "The sideshow is gun control, and for my part I want to deal with the issue of school safety. There is plenty of time to continue to debate on gun control."
School safety needs to delineated into immediate solutions and long-term solutions, he said.
One issue that requires a long-term approach is mental health, Dixon said.
Hardening of school facilities is a more immediate or near-term concern, he said.
"Most of us want to focus on things that are reactionary," Dixon said. "So in my opinion the immediate need is to do those things which will have an immediate effect on the safety of our schools."
Gun control is a totally different issue, he said.
The next shooter already has his gun, his plan and could "give a flip" as to whether or not the law is changed, Dixon said.
"Gun control, in my opinion, has nothing to do with the discussion on school safety," he said.
One of the most important long-term solutions is dealing with disturbed students, he said.
Dixon said he believes the recent shooting in Maryland provides an excellent example from which to learn.
In that case, a well-trained, qualified, willing resource officer responded very quickly to prevent what could have been a greater disaster, he said.
"I think we should seriously look immediately at identifying qualified, trained, willing-to-participate people that can be placed on the facility to be able to respond quickly," Dixon said. "I think that needs to be in every school."
Some school boards and sheriff's offices are already taking action, Bell said.
For example, Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce has bolstered the school resource officer program.
"That is an immediate need that could be met right then and there," Bell said.
Bell said he thinks that would be an immediate issue to look at including funding and what can be done to enhance the program.
Wayne County has two schools that were built in the 1920s, he said.
How schools like that can be brought up to standards was a topic, too, he said.
One possible solution would be school safety funding grants for school safety improvements such as locks, cameras and other items, he said.
Dixon agreed saying that fortifying schools should be an immediate concern.
"After 9/11 we secured our airports and other facilities," Dixon said. "And we should have done that after the first school shooting, but we didn't. I think we need to be very serious now in providing safety for our students and teachers."
For more information about the House Select Committee on School Safety, go to www.ncleg.net website and click on "Committees" at the top. Scroll down to "Committee Selection," look under "House Select Committees" and click on "House Committee Websites."
Once there, click on "House Select Committee on School Safety" and it will take you to all of the documents that have been downloaded to date.
Anyone who wants to be notified of committee meetings should send an email to Viddia Torbett at torbettla@ncleg.net and ask her to add their email address to the committee's distribution list.
-- The AP contributed to this article.