Oklahoma lawmakers’ focus on school safety laudable, but other investments are needed too

Oklahomans should be thankful that our legislators are investing significant funds in school safety.

 But having taught during the deadly crack and gangs era of the 1980s and early 1990s, it’s sad to hear that school safety is something that school leaders must “think about 24/7, today more than ever.”

I’ve also been dismayed to hear that State Superintendent Ryan Walters interfered with the distribution of school districts’ security funds. We should be thankful for Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s “expedited opinion” saying that said “the Oklahoma State Department of Education must immediately send school districts security funds that have been withheld by the agency because of a legal disagreement with the state Legislature.

I am especially impressed at how Sgt. Brandon Hendrix, the vice president of the Oklahoma Association of School Resource Officers, views the role of these officers in schools. He believes that they should be positive role models who build relationships before violence happens.

These are refreshing changes based on my past work at the old John Marshall High School and the violence I encountered there.

Back then, it was so easy to sneak a gun into the building, and it was up to students, parents and educators to prevent tragedies from occurring.

It was the students who told an administrator that a classmate was carrying a gun. And, it was the administrator’s experience communicating with students that helped her face and disarm him.

In another incident, a student grabbed a wooden paddle, and charged our school’s policeman. Our officer was a caring person, but as the student closed in, he was about to discharge his weapon. At the last second, our parent liaison, rushed down the stairs, and leaped onto the student, saving his life.

Back then, we had even fewer resources for protecting students’ physical and mental health. We had to continually intervene, without help, in life-and-death struggles.

Twice, I had deep conversations with troubled students who then committed a murder that day. Five times, I had heart-to-heart conversations with students who were dead before the next sunrise.

To improve schools like the ones I know best, we need to invest in both students’ physical security as well as their mental health.

That was true back then, but, after the COVID-19 pandemic, it is especially true today.

It requires building intense, trusting and loving relationships. And it requires funds to build and coordinate teams of caring adults.