I'm seriously considering taking my kids out of public school

[Anonymous]

All school shootings happened at schools with low great school ratings

Uh, no. Parkland. Columbine. Sandy Hook. None of these were low-SES schools.

I think it absolutely is reasonable to consider the potential for violence when making choices about schools. We applied to a private school in the spring (not admitted) that had a school security officer and numbered security zones, plus a comprehensive plan to deal with a violent situation. By contrast, my kid in FCPS was in a trailer. Basically wide open, anyone could walk in. When I asked about security, I was told that the plan was to lock the door and shut the blinds. The door was thin with a single lock, there was nowhere to hide, and there was no alternative exit. Not reassuring.

OP, your obligation is to your kids. Not to other people's kids. Not to kids in less advantaged neighborhoods or countries. If we as a society have decided that kids matter less than the right to own unlimited AR-15s, and that kids are secondary to virtually every other interest in society, then you have to prioritize your own family. Don't stay in public out of liberal guilt or some sense of societal obligation. Yes, that is selfish, and it sucks, but this is how things are. It won't get better because there is no political will to make it better.

I tell my kids not be be heroes -- get out, get safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter loves public kinder. I was anxious about sandy hook even before she started K, and now this. I would feel better knowing she's at a smaller school with less chance of getting shot. People like to say privates aren't any safer, but if you look at the statistics, they are.

Urban schools are statisticallt safer compared to suburban schools. All the mass school shootings are in the burbs, typically middle and upperclass.

[Anonymous]

According to this article, if you define a mass shooting as an event in which 4 or more people died, there have been 14 such events connected to schools or universities since Columbine in 1999. With the exception of an attack on an Amish school, all K-12 mass shootings have been at public schools.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/school-mass-shootings-timeline-169-23-17198273.php

[Anonymous]

There hasn’t been one shooting in a private school. We looked at security first when looking at schools. Our school has double gates on all entrances as well as no exterior windows - all windows face the enclosed courtyard. There is a guard at every outer gate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’re ridiculous and attention seeking and you know you won’t actually do this you just want people to talk about a tragedy. That’s messed up

OP here. I have a tour at a school tomorrow. This school has a gee around the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There hasn’t been one shooting in a private school. We looked at security first when looking at schools. Our school has double gates on all entrances as well as no exterior windows - all windows face the enclosed courtyard. There is a guard at every outer gate.

Sounds like a prison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't blame you OP.

I'll be so happy when they are out of school, and I no longer have to worry about school shootings.

I would not switch them to private just for this reason alone, though.

--Parent of public school students - HS and MS.

This doesn’t make any sense. At all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There hasn’t been one shooting in a private school. We looked at security first when looking at schools. Our school has double gates on all entrances as well as no exterior windows - all windows face the enclosed courtyard. There is a guard at every outer gate.

There was a private school shooting just last month, but keep pushing this storyline.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/04/28/edmund-burke-dc-shooting-school/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There hasn’t been one shooting in a private school. We looked at security first when looking at schools. Our school has double gates on all entrances as well as no exterior windows - all windows face the enclosed courtyard. There is a guard at every outer gate.

There was a private school shooting just last month, but keep pushing this storyline.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/04/28/edmund-burke-dc-shooting-school/

Shooter shot from an apartment building.

[Anonymous]

The Texas elementary school had an armed officer stationed at it. He “engaged” with the shooter but didn’t prevent the shooter from gaining access to the building. I don’t think there’s much more you can do.

[Anonymous]

This is PP. I mean not much more you can do if you’re not willing to enact gun control.

[Anonymous]

Living in a blue state city is probably one of the safest decisions you could make. Picking a school based on the perimeter wall feels like picking the gated community. It's a false sense of security if you're in a state with permissive gun laws.

[Anonymous]

My kid does go to a private school (I'm not local to the board) and I spent time today thinking about whether she was safe there. She's been there since K and I didn't really think about the actual facility as far as safety.

My older kids were in public school about an hour from Sandy Hook, when that happened. I had the conversations with them about how to run away into the woods if they ever needed to, and run until you get to the road. Not to hide in the locker rooms because they didn't have an exterior door. Today, I thought about dc's school, wondering if dc knows how to open them and hop out. I wonder if the locked door to the school has bulletproof glass. I wonder if any of the adults are carrying.

OP, I guess what I'm saying is, I'm finding myself once again thinking about it and I don't know if private is safer than public. If it gives your family peace of mind, it is probably a good choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There hasn’t been one shooting in a private school. We looked at security first when looking at schools. Our school has double gates on all entrances as well as no exterior windows - all windows face the enclosed courtyard. There is a guard at every outer gate.

There was a private school shooting just last month, but keep pushing this storyline.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/04/28/edmund-burke-dc-shooting-school/

That wasn’t a school shooting, idiot, and no one was killed. How dumb are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter loves public kinder. I was anxious about sandy hook even before she started K, and now this. I would feel better knowing she's at a smaller school with less chance of getting shot. People like to say privates aren't any safer, but if you look at the statistics, they are.

I would never want my child in a public school.