Seattle Schools Community Forum

From KING-5 News: Andrew Fryberg, a 15-year-old Marysville student who was critically injured after another student opened fire inside a high school cafeteria two weeks ago, died Friday from his injuries, Harborview Medical Center officials said. The last victim, Nate Hatch, went home from the hospital this week.  He and Andrew were best friends.  The Daily Herald in Everett writes about a gun control bill to be reintroduced in the Legislature: State Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Seattle, whose district includes parts of south Snohomish County, for two years has sponsored a bill that would require that guns be safely stored, making it a crime if a person stores or leaves a loaded firearm in a place where a child under 16 could get it.It didn't get out of committee in 2013 and didn't get a hearing in 2014. She said Wednesday she'll try again in 2015. The Legislature convenes in January. She introduced it because of a series of accidental child deaths and adolescent suicides ...

 Update: the shooter has been reported as committing suicide.  He was a freshman and played football.  He had been voted freshman homecoming king.  He was very close to his family and involved within his community.  Some are saying it was over a girl who had rejected him. It is reported that many students either ran from the scene in the cafeteria or ducked under tables when the shots rang out.   There will be a vigil at a church in Marysville tonight.  End of update. The Times is reporting a shooting this morning at 10:45 am at Marysville-Pilchuck High school in the cafeteria.  Four other people were wounded, three of them are in serious condition.  The school has 1200 students.  Some evacuated were walked from the building with their hands up, others locked themselves in classrooms. A parent's nightmare:

A reader put up a letter from Queen Anne Elementary principal, David Elliott, that was written in light of yesterday's Seattle Pacific U shootings (QA Elementary is fairly close by as is Coe Elementary).  Mr. Elliott calmly explains what they did once the event became known to this (and this happened as school had just ended for the day). Apparently buses had left but there were many children and parents on the playground.  He made the parents aware of the situation.  He goes on:   After some time making sure we were aware of where all children and adults were on our campus I had time to call our SPS Security. I was informed that SPD had contacted our security department and informed them there were no schools in the vicinity and no calls needed. I was, and am, completely unsatisfied with that decision for us and for Coe, which is situated eight or nine blocks from the SPU campus. I will certainly follow up on this with both SPD and our SPS Security Depar...

A real-life enactment of that simple phrase is probably what saved the lives of many, many students and staff at a small-town high school in Minnesota. Waseca, Minnesota is a small town (about 10,000) south of Minneapolis.  It has one high school and it was discovered on Tuesday that a 17-year old student was planning a massacre.

From Moms Demand Action: Details are still unfolding, but at least two children are in critical condition after a shooting today at a middle school in Roswell, New Mexico. Witnesses say a 13-year-old student shot a 14-year-old classmate in the face: http://tinyurl.com/kd9odt8 (from the Albuquerque Journal). The scene of parents waiting in a school parking lot to find out if their child was shot is all too common in America. Mothers will no longer be silent about the epidemic of gun violence across our nation, and we will continue to speak out for the safety of our children and families. Join a chapter in your state TODAY: http://momsdemandaction.org/join-us/ Update:  After the 12-year old (!) pulled out a shotgun and fired, according to the AP, he was "quickly stopped by one staff member who walked right up to him and asked him to set down the firearm, which he did." Superintendent Tom Burris stated, "In the 10 seconds that transpired from the time of th...

From CNN: A student opening fire with a handgun he took from his parents. Screaming students running for cover. A teacher, trying to help, shot dead. Two students wounded. As authorities investigated, details were still trickling out hours after a deadly shooting Monday at a Nevada middle school. An official used one word to describe the scene at Sparks Middle School: chaos. The shooter used a handgun taken from his parents, according to a federal law enforcement source who was briefed on the situation. The shooter then used the handgun to shoot and kill himself, the source told CNN's Evan Perez. The victim who was killed was math teacher, Michael Landsberry, who had served in the military, including in Afghanistan. And once again, a teacher, Mr. Landsberry, put himself between students and a gunman.  He saved lives. Please, remember that tomorrow when your children go off to school.   The staff in your child's building will put themselves betwe...

I ran across some items about science and public education and wanted to share them. An article from the NY Times caught my eye about ADHD and sleep .  For some people — especially children — sleep deprivation does not necessarily cause lethargy; instead they become hyperactive and unfocused. Researchers and reporters are increasingly seeing connections between dysfunctional sleep and what looks like A.D.H.D ., but those links are taking a long time to be understood by parents and doctors. This article appeared in the journal Science about an interview with Ed Lazowska in UW's department of Computer Science and Engineering about the future of computer science.   (Public disclosure; I know Ed and the department very well.)  Some highlights:

There was a high school shooting in Taft, California today with one student shot but with a teacher and administrator able to talk the student shooter into giving up his weapon.  Taft is a rural community  about 120 miles northwest of LA.  Taft Union High School has about 900 students. From AP: When the shots were fired, the teacher began trying to get the more than two dozen students out a back door and also engaged the shooter in conversation to distract him, Youngblood said. A campus supervisor responding to a call of shots fired also began talking to him. "They talked him into putting the shotgun down," Youngblood said. The sheriff said that at one point the shooter told the teacher, "I don't want to shoot you" and named the person he wanted to shoot. The shooter may have had up to 20 shotgun rounds in his pockets, he said. Officials said there's usually an armed officer on campus but the person wasn't there because he was snowe...

 Update: statement from SPS on the NRA statement. We are forming a joint working group with the Seattle Police Department to study all recommendations for improving our school safety, and this effort will begin early in 2013. Together, we will formulate sustainable plans for implementing improved safety measures across the District. The security of our students and staff is our highest priority, and we look forward to working with our staff and community partners to implement improved safety measures across the District. End of update. I rarely call people names here.  Not useful and there are better ways to say you disagree with people. But head of NRA, Wayne LaPierre - an idiot.  Here's what he is saying in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings:   "How can we possibly even guess how many, given our nation's refusal to create an active national database of the mentally ill?"   Wayne, your group doesn't even support an act...

Back to school for the last week of the 2012 year.  What did you tell your children?  What do you hope your child's teacher does (or does not) say to your child?  Should they say anything or is that your job as parent? What about older students?  Is gun control an issue that high school students should consider in their history or civics classes? What do you think about what Sandy Hook Elementary had in place (which, sadly, did not work).  Namely, locking all the doors after a certain point and people had to be buzzed into the building. What about arming every principal?  That was one suggestion I read (although it would make the office and the principal a first target for anyone thinking of attacking a school).   Here's a good article from the NY Times on this subject. From SPS communications on talking with your children.