Jay’s Sep 7 Remarks to House Select Committee on School Safety
After the Feb 2018 Parkland, FL school shooting, the NC House formed this special committee to make recommendations to improve school safety. They held a public forum at WHS in Boone on Sept 7 at which I addressed the committee.
Thank you for allowing me to speak to you today. My name is Jay Fenwick. I am a parent, volunteer, professor, and a member of the Watauga County Board of Education. I want to commend you for traveling across the state to get input from a wide variety of stakeholders on this important issue. And I trust that you will take all the opinions you hear to heart and let them inform your decisions.
I want to be careful here to state that I am speaking now as an individual. I am a member of the local school board and that means that I talk with a lot of people in our community. And my comments reflect the views of many in this community. But my comments are not a statement of the position of the board. I’m betting my board chair is looking up our board spokesperson policy. Somebody tell Ron it’s policy # 1360. ;-)
In my job teaching Computer Science at AppState, there is a saying about computer security that is relevant to our topic today. Security is a process not a product. Security and the feeling of safety it can provide is an ongoing effort. It is not a one and done thing. You can install a virus checker and spam filter, but you must also remain constantly diligent to not click links in phishing emails that still get through.
I think school security and safety is the same. Here in Watauga we just completed renovations to all our K-8 schools to have double vestibule entryways. But we must still remain diligent in making sure that doors are not propped open during recess or to provide air flow in buildings without air conditioning.
Security products are needed, I want to be clear. We want double vestibule entryways and security cameras and the like. But when our school board met with our local law enforcement in March, after the Florida school shooting, the discussion was more about SROs, counselors, social workers, psychologists, and nurses. How all these trained professionals working together in a preemptive way are a vital part of securing our schools. Noticing a student who seems out of sorts. Having the time to recollect that this same student had family challenges last year. Following up with the student at lunch. We need enough of these people to do this work and we need to think of this work not only as helping students emotionally but potentially diffusing a future outburst.
As for our teacher professionals, all of the teachers that have talked to me want to teach their students. They want to think about lesson plans and curriculum standards and what they can do to help a struggling student achieve a learning outcome. They want to hug and care for and help their students grow. That alone is a full-time effort. They don’t want an additional responsibility of being armed and part of a security apparatus. And it’s not just here. Poll after poll shows clearly that most people want teachers to concentrate on teaching and that includes our state superintendent.
Let me wrap up by saying that hardening our school facilities is only a part of making schools secure. I appreciate the recent grant programs that Dr. Elliott mentioned in his remarks. And I stress that we must continue to invest in the daily processes performed by our student services professionals to be truly proactive in our efforts.
Thank you.
I want to be careful here to state that I am speaking now as an individual. I am a member of the local school board and that means that I talk with a lot of people in our community. And my comments reflect the views of many in this community. But my comments are not a statement of the position of the board. I’m betting my board chair is looking up our board spokesperson policy. Somebody tell Ron it’s policy # 1360. ;-)
In my job teaching Computer Science at AppState, there is a saying about computer security that is relevant to our topic today. Security is a process not a product. Security and the feeling of safety it can provide is an ongoing effort. It is not a one and done thing. You can install a virus checker and spam filter, but you must also remain constantly diligent to not click links in phishing emails that still get through.
I think school security and safety is the same. Here in Watauga we just completed renovations to all our K-8 schools to have double vestibule entryways. But we must still remain diligent in making sure that doors are not propped open during recess or to provide air flow in buildings without air conditioning.
Security products are needed, I want to be clear. We want double vestibule entryways and security cameras and the like. But when our school board met with our local law enforcement in March, after the Florida school shooting, the discussion was more about SROs, counselors, social workers, psychologists, and nurses. How all these trained professionals working together in a preemptive way are a vital part of securing our schools. Noticing a student who seems out of sorts. Having the time to recollect that this same student had family challenges last year. Following up with the student at lunch. We need enough of these people to do this work and we need to think of this work not only as helping students emotionally but potentially diffusing a future outburst.
As for our teacher professionals, all of the teachers that have talked to me want to teach their students. They want to think about lesson plans and curriculum standards and what they can do to help a struggling student achieve a learning outcome. They want to hug and care for and help their students grow. That alone is a full-time effort. They don’t want an additional responsibility of being armed and part of a security apparatus. And it’s not just here. Poll after poll shows clearly that most people want teachers to concentrate on teaching and that includes our state superintendent.
Let me wrap up by saying that hardening our school facilities is only a part of making schools secure. I appreciate the recent grant programs that Dr. Elliott mentioned in his remarks. And I stress that we must continue to invest in the daily processes performed by our student services professionals to be truly proactive in our efforts.
Thank you.
Here is the Watauga Democrat article.
