SEQUIM — A Carlsborg resident has suggested that volunteers guard schools.
Jack Singleton, a U.S. Army veteran, proposed to the Sequim School Board on Monday night that he and other retired military, police enforcement and/or security guards volunteer to guard schools with or without weapons.
“The children of the school district rely on the seniors and parents to take care of them because they can’t take care of themselves out there,” Singleton said.
“I know our police department doesn’t have the resources to bring the people that have the security over there, so I have asked a lot of the retired military and retired police, teachers, anyone that could volunteer to be security over there to come forward, with or without weapons, as long as we’re on the grounds, not in the building unless you’re asked to come into the building.”
Singleton made the suggestion in the wake of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people on Feb. 14.
He held up a $1,000 check to donate to the school district to start a fund for security in Sequim’s schools.
“Even if you don’t use the military or police at least maybe we could come up with a fund to help the police department,” he said. “We need something because the next shooter is out there, we just hope it’s not in Sequim.”
Husband and wife Jerry and Tiffany Mote shared some of Singleton’s sentiment.
Following President Donald Trump’s suggestion of arming well-qualified teachers, Jerry Mote said protecting students shouldn’t come down to teachers.
“A team needs to be formed to come up with those ideas to be proactive and reactive; teachers aren’t there to protect kids,” he said. “I’m not asking teachers to take this on.”
Said Tiffany Mote: “Educators are not equipped to deal with this sort of defensive strategic planning. So if there’s one thing we can do, it should be to create a committee that is solely focused on that.”
Jon Eekhoff, a spokesperson for Sequim’s teachers union Sequim Education Association, said later that the teachers he’s in contact with aren’t in favor of taking up arms/security.
Eekhoff said many security issues could have been addressed in any of the four failed bonds in recent years starting with the April 2014 $154 million construction bond or the most recent February 2016 bond proposal of $54 million.
“It’s frustrating when safety was one of the primary things when the bonds were proposed,” he said.
At Sequim High School, where he teaches, Eekhoff said “there are simple things that are common sense that aren’t being done” such as for teachers being able to lock their doors from either side of a door.
Sequim resident Karen Hogan said she doesn’t think enrolling volunteers is a good way to protect students.
“I assume we’re going to have some kind of protection for the schools, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to have volunteers,” Hogan said.
“I think it needs to come through law enforcement because that makes it accountable to the community and we can be sure they’re well trained. I would like to ask we leave any safety for the schools and armed guards for law enforcement.”
Sequim Police Chief Sheri Crain said she’s been in ongoing discussions with Superintendent Gary Neal for some time about school safety concerns. She said law enforcement continues to work toward being more proactive in preventing incidents but is doing so with limited resources and increased regulations.
“A vast amount of what we can do is reactive,” she said of incidents.
“Everyone since Columbine has worked better on reacting faster to an incident and we’re trying to be more proactive but as we’ve learned, especially in Florida, reactive doesn’t get you far.”
Crain encourages people to be proactive in reporting unusual and/or suspicious behavior and said as a community we need to ask ourselves an array of questions about mental health treatment, gun laws and more.
“I’m appreciative of people asking these questions,” she said. “They can ask them of Gary and me but in reality we can only address and speak to so much. At the end of the day, our community, state and country need to be the ones to act.”
She said safety concerns remain at Helen Haller Elementary and Sequim High School because they are difficult to secure.
“It comes down to people making decisions and the Legislature,” she said.
School Board President Heather Short said the board has not had a formal discussion on school safety recently.
“Our conversation is ongoing and we don’t have a position at this point because we’re still discussing options,” she said.
Last week, Neal sent out a letter to Sequim parents/ guardians about school safety.
In the letter, he said the Florida tragedy led district officials to review its safety plans and practices through partnerships with local and regional emergency agencies.
“Safety is not negotiable,” he said in the letter. “The staff at Sequim School District regard student safety as the highest priority.”
He said two years ago an active shooter drill was practiced at Greywolf Elementary School and since then the district has developed a Critical Incident Response Quick Guide that was distributed to every classroom.
The state requires every school district to practice nine drills in the school year, Neal said, and that the district can choose what kind of drill they want to facilitate, such as an earthquake, fire, active shooter drill, etc.
He said for 2019, the district is planning to facilitate another crisis drill with local emergency and law enforcement agencies.
Neal also said the district encourages empowering students to report potential safety threats.
For more information on Sequim schools, visit www.sequimschools.org or call 360-582-3260.
