What's going on at Churchill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like a lot of these posts are trying to shift the blame away from a knife-wielding student to others. SROs have dubious benefits at best. El Rich was right to remove them there are a waste of tax dollars. Further it wouldn't have mattered in this case even if the SRO didn't just run away.

BINGO!

The knife-wielding student (and the broader mcps punishment issue if the kid is allowed to remain in public school) is the main issue here. Whether we should have SROS is a good debate, too, but I'd hope that people would listen to the pros and cons before rushing to judgment.

But I generally get frustrated when people who have almost no knowledge of a situation diagnose what everyone else did wrong. We have only tiny bits of information, yet people assume they know how the situation would be best handled.

This same issue revealed itself loud and clear at the last PTA meeting. Parents assumed they knew best about things like where kids should eat lunch (as a reminder, there was a chorus of voices saying more kids should be allowed to eat in the bus loop and the principal said he limited it to seniors because there wasn't a good way to secure the area... and yet the question came up over and over by parents who thought they knew better).

Parents complained that lunchlines were way too long and the principal pointed out that kids have a full hour for lunch and if they check in with teachers or hang out with friends first, then there is virtually no line at all 20 minutes into lunch.

Parents complained that kids should be able to eat wherever they wanted in the building (especially the second floor), and the principal pointed out that not only is there a monitoring issue (limited staff to ensure safety if kids are literally everywhere), but the second floor has several areas where kids try to take makeup tests at lunch and the noise is distracting.

What I'm saying is that no one on this board really understands the full detailed picture of what happens (nor should we-- that's what we hire administrators for). So when parents with little information think they should criticize how things are handled, it's kind of a joke. But the frustrating thing is that it just adds to all of the discord in our community, adding negativity and stress for everyone.

No problem with asking the principal a question at the PTA meeting (and having an open mind for the response). No problem in voicing a concern on behalf of your kid. But don't assume you know everything and can do everyone's job better than they can-- you almost certainly don't and can't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All this stuff is performative. If we really wanted to do right by our kids and our communities we’d have smaller schools instead of these giant places where no one really knows anyone. Where the teachers and administrators don’t know the kids and aren’t able to invest in individuals because there are too many of them. We don’t want to spend the money and the effort. People in power don’t want to give up their control. So we throw tons of money at creating these huge machines that don’t serve our children and thus don’t serve our communities and we wonder why it is such a mess.

Agree. Schools in this county are too large. And the school district as a whole is also too big and unmanageable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ever get a weather alert on your phone with an alarm? Hard to miss and definitely gets your attention.

Also, what student at Churchill isn’t glued a cellphone? It would be so easy to send out an alert

No--it's easy to RECEIVE an alert. Sending an alert takes time and organization. Not a ton of time, but in this particular case, it seems like the danger was gone before an alert was feasible.

Other schools and colleges have pre-planed warnings for situations such a lockdowns and shelter in place. They even have drills with the cellphone alerts to practice. It’s not new technology and having an alerts system that students are familiar with can save lives in dangerous situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MCCPTA advocated for an alert system after the bomb threat incident at Churchill years ago under Benz. Both that incident and last week’s assault highlighted the most vulnerable times of the school day is when students are coming to school - either at the beginning of the school day or at lunch. These are the times doors are unlocked and students are outside coming into the building. Not an easy time to lockdown the building or get students to safety.

MCPS needs to wake up and realize safety attacks will come at these periods of vulnerability, not on their class schedules.

And how should MCPS address that risk?

Use the same robo phone, text, and email service that Mr. Taylor uses for his Sunday announcements. You can prepare a general lockdown alert that tells students on campus to go into the building and secure themselves in a classroom. For students not on campus should go home till it is safe to go to school.

College campuses have used such alerts for over a decade. MCPS has the technology but has never used it to improve school safety.

I don’t know about other families, but my HS student doesn’t get those robocalls, the parents do. My kid would never see an MCPS email in time to react to an emergency. They probably wouldn’t answer a phone call from MCPS, either. They might see a text, but there’s a chance they wouldn’t even read it right away if it weren’t from a friend or family member.

We all just get so much canned messaging from MCPS that nobody treats any of them as urgent. I think it would need to be a dedicated emergency source in order to be of any use in a real emergency. The emergency text/email service at the university I work for is completely separate from any other messaging. If you see a message from them, you know something is happening right now.

Churchill has the ability to text, call, and email alerts to students. They have the phone number and MCPS email for my child which is alerted on his chrome book and phone. It’s not rocket science and there could be a special format for security alerts.

If Churchill and MCPS are too dense to come up with a plan, there are security firms that perform risk assessments for schools so safety improvements are implemented. Every child at Churchill has a cellphone. Sending out alerts to phones would be easy, quick, and cheap.

Churchill can only do so much without MCPS approval. MCPS catered to the ultra liberal parents who don't want any security in the schools. So, this is what we get. Violence at the school and slow police times. This isn't just a Churchill issue and removing security at the schools was a mistake. Not all kids have phones so relying on phones is an issue but they could even put up signs, sound an alarm or something like they did when we went to HS.

They did not remove security at schools, they remove worthless SROs at schools. There are security guards at schools.
Stop with your Fox News, Q propaganda.
Idiot

Because an unarmed rent a cop will be a deterrent lol

Well SROs were never a deterrent, were they?

You’re so dumb:

Yes, they have. One example here in MD.

By Matthew Barakat and Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press

GREAT MILLS, Md. — A teenager with a handgun shot and critically wounded a girl inside a Maryland school on Tuesday and the shooter was killed when a school resource officer confronted him moments after the gunfire erupted.

LOL. Your post doesn't help your case
Did the SRO prevent the girl from getting shot? Was the SRO a deterrent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MCCPTA advocated for an alert system after the bomb threat incident at Churchill years ago under Benz. Both that incident and last week’s assault highlighted the most vulnerable times of the school day is when students are coming to school - either at the beginning of the school day or at lunch. These are the times doors are unlocked and students are outside coming into the building. Not an easy time to lockdown the building or get students to safety.

MCPS needs to wake up and realize safety attacks will come at these periods of vulnerability, not on their class schedules.

And how should MCPS address that risk?

Use the same robo phone, text, and email service that Mr. Taylor uses for his Sunday announcements. You can prepare a general lockdown alert that tells students on campus to go into the building and secure themselves in a classroom. For students not on campus should go home till it is safe to go to school.

College campuses have used such alerts for over a decade. MCPS has the technology but has never used it to improve school safety.

I don’t know about other families, but my HS student doesn’t get those robocalls, the parents do. My kid would never see an MCPS email in time to react to an emergency. They probably wouldn’t answer a phone call from MCPS, either. They might see a text, but there’s a chance they wouldn’t even read it right away if it weren’t from a friend or family member.

We all just get so much canned messaging from MCPS that nobody treats any of them as urgent. I think it would need to be a dedicated emergency source in order to be of any use in a real emergency. The emergency text/email service at the university I work for is completely separate from any other messaging. If you see a message from them, you know something is happening right now.

Churchill has the ability to text, call, and email alerts to students. They have the phone number and MCPS email for my child which is alerted on his chrome book and phone. It’s not rocket science and there could be a special format for security alerts.

If Churchill and MCPS are too dense to come up with a plan, there are security firms that perform risk assessments for schools so safety improvements are implemented. Every child at Churchill has a cellphone. Sending out alerts to phones would be easy, quick, and cheap.

Churchill can only do so much without MCPS approval. MCPS catered to the ultra liberal parents who don't want any security in the schools. So, this is what we get. Violence at the school and slow police times. This isn't just a Churchill issue and removing security at the schools was a mistake. Not all kids have phones so relying on phones is an issue but they could even put up signs, sound an alarm or something like they did when we went to HS.

They did not remove security at schools, they remove worthless SROs at schools. There are security guards at schools.
Stop with your Fox News, Q propaganda.
Idiot

Because an unarmed rent a cop will be a deterrent lol

Well SROs were never a deterrent, were they?

You’re so dumb:

Yes, they have. One example here in MD.

By Matthew Barakat and Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press

GREAT MILLS, Md. — A teenager with a handgun shot and critically wounded a girl inside a Maryland school on Tuesday and the shooter was killed when a school resource officer confronted him moments after the gunfire erupted.

Even closer to home an Ari took a gun from a student at Clarksburg before he could do any damage. SROs are critical in preventing or minimizing violence in schools.

It was the students who alerted the SRO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MCCPTA advocated for an alert system after the bomb threat incident at Churchill years ago under Benz. Both that incident and last week’s assault highlighted the most vulnerable times of the school day is when students are coming to school - either at the beginning of the school day or at lunch. These are the times doors are unlocked and students are outside coming into the building. Not an easy time to lockdown the building or get students to safety.

MCPS needs to wake up and realize safety attacks will come at these periods of vulnerability, not on their class schedules.

And how should MCPS address that risk?

Use the same robo phone, text, and email service that Mr. Taylor uses for his Sunday announcements. You can prepare a general lockdown alert that tells students on campus to go into the building and secure themselves in a classroom. For students not on campus should go home till it is safe to go to school.

College campuses have used such alerts for over a decade. MCPS has the technology but has never used it to improve school safety.

I don’t know about other families, but my HS student doesn’t get those robocalls, the parents do. My kid would never see an MCPS email in time to react to an emergency. They probably wouldn’t answer a phone call from MCPS, either. They might see a text, but there’s a chance they wouldn’t even read it right away if it weren’t from a friend or family member.

We all just get so much canned messaging from MCPS that nobody treats any of them as urgent. I think it would need to be a dedicated emergency source in order to be of any use in a real emergency. The emergency text/email service at the university I work for is completely separate from any other messaging. If you see a message from them, you know something is happening right now.

Churchill has the ability to text, call, and email alerts to students. They have the phone number and MCPS email for my child which is alerted on his chrome book and phone. It’s not rocket science and there could be a special format for security alerts.

If Churchill and MCPS are too dense to come up with a plan, there are security firms that perform risk assessments for schools so safety improvements are implemented. Every child at Churchill has a cellphone. Sending out alerts to phones would be easy, quick, and cheap.

Churchill can only do so much without MCPS approval. MCPS catered to the ultra liberal parents who don't want any security in the schools. So, this is what we get. Violence at the school and slow police times. This isn't just a Churchill issue and removing security at the schools was a mistake. Not all kids have phones so relying on phones is an issue but they could even put up signs, sound an alarm or something like they did when we went to HS.

They did not remove security at schools, they remove worthless SROs at schools. There are security guards at schools.
Stop with your Fox News, Q propaganda.
Idiot

Because an unarmed rent a cop will be a deterrent lol

Well SROs were never a deterrent, were they?

You’re so dumb:

Yes, they have. One example here in MD.

By Matthew Barakat and Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press

GREAT MILLS, Md. — A teenager with a handgun shot and critically wounded a girl inside a Maryland school on Tuesday and the shooter was killed when a school resource officer confronted him moments after the gunfire erupted.

Even closer to home an Ari took a gun from a student at Clarksburg before he could do any damage. SROs are critical in preventing or minimizing violence in schools.

I heard he ran away to cower behind a tree.

You're woefully misinformed. That's what happens when you get your news from (or write for) the Takoma Torch. Here's the actual story https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wusa9.com/amp/article/news/local/maryland/5-clarksburg-high-students-arrested-after-gun-brought-to-school/65-b7ff209f-24ad-4798-adf7-d7db1161f582

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MCCPTA advocated for an alert system after the bomb threat incident at Churchill years ago under Benz. Both that incident and last week’s assault highlighted the most vulnerable times of the school day is when students are coming to school - either at the beginning of the school day or at lunch. These are the times doors are unlocked and students are outside coming into the building. Not an easy time to lockdown the building or get students to safety.

MCPS needs to wake up and realize safety attacks will come at these periods of vulnerability, not on their class schedules.

And how should MCPS address that risk?

Use the same robo phone, text, and email service that Mr. Taylor uses for his Sunday announcements. You can prepare a general lockdown alert that tells students on campus to go into the building and secure themselves in a classroom. For students not on campus should go home till it is safe to go to school.

College campuses have used such alerts for over a decade. MCPS has the technology but has never used it to improve school safety.

I don’t know about other families, but my HS student doesn’t get those robocalls, the parents do. My kid would never see an MCPS email in time to react to an emergency. They probably wouldn’t answer a phone call from MCPS, either. They might see a text, but there’s a chance they wouldn’t even read it right away if it weren’t from a friend or family member.

We all just get so much canned messaging from MCPS that nobody treats any of them as urgent. I think it would need to be a dedicated emergency source in order to be of any use in a real emergency. The emergency text/email service at the university I work for is completely separate from any other messaging. If you see a message from them, you know something is happening right now.

Churchill has the ability to text, call, and email alerts to students. They have the phone number and MCPS email for my child which is alerted on his chrome book and phone. It’s not rocket science and there could be a special format for security alerts.

If Churchill and MCPS are too dense to come up with a plan, there are security firms that perform risk assessments for schools so safety improvements are implemented. Every child at Churchill has a cellphone. Sending out alerts to phones would be easy, quick, and cheap.

Churchill can only do so much without MCPS approval. MCPS catered to the ultra liberal parents who don't want any security in the schools. So, this is what we get. Violence at the school and slow police times. This isn't just a Churchill issue and removing security at the schools was a mistake. Not all kids have phones so relying on phones is an issue but they could even put up signs, sound an alarm or something like they did when we went to HS.

They did not remove security at schools, they remove worthless SROs at schools. There are security guards at schools.
Stop with your Fox News, Q propaganda.
Idiot

Because an unarmed rent a cop will be a deterrent lol

Well SROs were never a deterrent, were they?

You’re so dumb:

Yes, they have. One example here in MD.

By Matthew Barakat and Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press

GREAT MILLS, Md. — A teenager with a handgun shot and critically wounded a girl inside a Maryland school on Tuesday and the shooter was killed when a school resource officer confronted him moments after the gunfire erupted.

LOL. Your post doesn't help your case
Did the SRO prevent the girl from getting shot? Was the SRO a deterrent?

You sound like a Trumper. "The SRO didn't help because one girl got shot" is on par with "vaccines don't work because some people are still dying of Covid."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like a lot of these posts are trying to shift the blame away from a knife-wielding student to others. SROs have dubious benefits at best. El Rich was right to remove them there are a waste of tax dollars. Further it wouldn't have mattered in this case even if the SRO didn't just run away.

BINGO!

The knife-wielding student (and the broader mcps punishment issue if the kid is allowed to remain in public school) is the main issue here. Whether we should have SROS is a good debate, too, but I'd hope that people would listen to the pros and cons before rushing to judgment.

But I generally get frustrated when people who have almost no knowledge of a situation diagnose what everyone else did wrong. We have only tiny bits of information, yet people assume they know how the situation would be best handled.

This same issue revealed itself loud and clear at the last PTA meeting. Parents assumed they knew best about things like where kids should eat lunch (as a reminder, there was a chorus of voices saying more kids should be allowed to eat in the bus loop and the principal said he limited it to seniors because there wasn't a good way to secure the area... and yet the question came up over and over by parents who thought they knew better).

Parents complained that lunchlines were way too long and the principal pointed out that kids have a full hour for lunch and if they check in with teachers or hang out with friends first, then there is virtually no line at all 20 minutes into lunch.

Parents complained that kids should be able to eat wherever they wanted in the building (especially the second floor), and the principal pointed out that not only is there a monitoring issue (limited staff to ensure safety if kids are literally everywhere), but the second floor has several areas where kids try to take makeup tests at lunch and the noise is distracting.

What I'm saying is that no one on this board really understands the full detailed picture of what happens (nor should we-- that's what we hire administrators for). So when parents with little information think they should criticize how things are handled, it's kind of a joke. But the frustrating thing is that it just adds to all of the discord in our community, adding negativity and stress for everyone.

No problem with asking the principal a question at the PTA meeting (and having an open mind for the response). No problem in voicing a concern on behalf of your kid. But don't assume you know everything and can do everyone's job better than they can-- you almost certainly don't and can't.

[phone]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like a lot of these posts are trying to shift the blame away from a knife-wielding student to others. SROs have dubious benefits at best. El Rich was right to remove them there are a waste of tax dollars. Further it wouldn't have mattered in this case even if the SRO didn't just run away.

BINGO!

The knife-wielding student (and the broader mcps punishment issue if the kid is allowed to remain in public school) is the main issue here. Whether we should have SROS is a good debate, too, but I'd hope that people would listen to the pros and cons before rushing to judgment.

But I generally get frustrated when people who have almost no knowledge of a situation diagnose what everyone else did wrong. We have only tiny bits of information, yet people assume they know how the situation would be best handled.

This same issue revealed itself loud and clear at the last PTA meeting. Parents assumed they knew best about things like where kids should eat lunch (as a reminder, there was a chorus of voices saying more kids should be allowed to eat in the bus loop and the principal said he limited it to seniors because there wasn't a good way to secure the area... and yet the question came up over and over by parents who thought they knew better).

Parents complained that lunchlines were way too long and the principal pointed out that kids have a full hour for lunch and if they check in with teachers or hang out with friends first, then there is virtually no line at all 20 minutes into lunch.

Parents complained that kids should be able to eat wherever they wanted in the building (especially the second floor), and the principal pointed out that not only is there a monitoring issue (limited staff to ensure safety if kids are literally everywhere), but the second floor has several areas where kids try to take makeup tests at lunch and the noise is distracting.

What I'm saying is that no one on this board really understands the full detailed picture of what happens (nor should we-- that's what we hire administrators for). So when parents with little information think they should criticize how things are handled, it's kind of a joke. But the frustrating thing is that it just adds to all of the discord in our community, adding negativity and stress for everyone.

No problem with asking the principal a question at the PTA meeting (and having an open mind for the response). No problem in voicing a concern on behalf of your kid. But don't assume you know everything and can do everyone's job better than they can-- you almost certainly don't and can't.

[phone]

Some of us have had children in schools other than MCPS. Some of us have seen what is feasible but is not being done at Churchill. Some of us witnessed events first hand so saw clear failures by Churchill and the police last week to respond in a timely manner.

In an active shooter situation or even in a knife situation where there are casualties, 20 minutes will cost lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like a lot of these posts are trying to shift the blame away from a knife-wielding student to others. SROs have dubious benefits at best. El Rich was right to remove them there are a waste of tax dollars. Further it wouldn't have mattered in this case even if the SRO didn't just run away.

BINGO!

The knife-wielding student (and the broader mcps punishment issue if the kid is allowed to remain in public school) is the main issue here. Whether we should have SROS is a good debate, too, but I'd hope that people would listen to the pros and cons before rushing to judgment.

But I generally get frustrated when people who have almost no knowledge of a situation diagnose what everyone else did wrong. We have only tiny bits of information, yet people assume they know how the situation would be best handled.

This same issue revealed itself loud and clear at the last PTA meeting. Parents assumed they knew best about things like where kids should eat lunch (as a reminder, there was a chorus of voices saying more kids should be allowed to eat in the bus loop and the principal said he limited it to seniors because there wasn't a good way to secure the area... and yet the question came up over and over by parents who thought they knew better).

Parents complained that lunchlines were way too long and the principal pointed out that kids have a full hour for lunch and if they check in with teachers or hang out with friends first, then there is virtually no line at all 20 minutes into lunch.

Parents complained that kids should be able to eat wherever they wanted in the building (especially the second floor), and the principal pointed out that not only is there a monitoring issue (limited staff to ensure safety if kids are literally everywhere), but the second floor has several areas where kids try to take makeup tests at lunch and the noise is distracting.

What I'm saying is that no one on this board really understands the full detailed picture of what happens (nor should we-- that's what we hire administrators for). So when parents with little information think they should criticize how things are handled, it's kind of a joke. But the frustrating thing is that it just adds to all of the discord in our community, adding negativity and stress for everyone.

No problem with asking the principal a question at the PTA meeting (and having an open mind for the response). No problem in voicing a concern on behalf of your kid. But don't assume you know everything and can do everyone's job better than they can-- you almost certainly don't and can't.

[phone]

Some of us have had children in schools other than MCPS. Some of us have seen what is feasible but is not being done at Churchill. Some of us witnessed events first hand so saw clear failures by Churchill and the police last week to respond in a timely manner.

In an active shooter situation or even in a knife situation where there are casualties, 20 minutes will cost lives.

OMG OMG they should have the national guard stationed at schools to ensure the safety of our children!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MCCPTA advocated for an alert system after the bomb threat incident at Churchill years ago under Benz. Both that incident and last week’s assault highlighted the most vulnerable times of the school day is when students are coming to school - either at the beginning of the school day or at lunch. These are the times doors are unlocked and students are outside coming into the building. Not an easy time to lockdown the building or get students to safety.

MCPS needs to wake up and realize safety attacks will come at these periods of vulnerability, not on their class schedules.

And how should MCPS address that risk?

Use the same robo phone, text, and email service that Mr. Taylor uses for his Sunday announcements. You can prepare a general lockdown alert that tells students on campus to go into the building and secure themselves in a classroom. For students not on campus should go home till it is safe to go to school.

College campuses have used such alerts for over a decade. MCPS has the technology but has never used it to improve school safety.

I don’t know about other families, but my HS student doesn’t get those robocalls, the parents do. My kid would never see an MCPS email in time to react to an emergency. They probably wouldn’t answer a phone call from MCPS, either. They might see a text, but there’s a chance they wouldn’t even read it right away if it weren’t from a friend or family member.

We all just get so much canned messaging from MCPS that nobody treats any of them as urgent. I think it would need to be a dedicated emergency source in order to be of any use in a real emergency. The emergency text/email service at the university I work for is completely separate from any other messaging. If you see a message from them, you know something is happening right now.

Churchill has the ability to text, call, and email alerts to students. They have the phone number and MCPS email for my child which is alerted on his chrome book and phone. It’s not rocket science and there could be a special format for security alerts.

If Churchill and MCPS are too dense to come up with a plan, there are security firms that perform risk assessments for schools so safety improvements are implemented. Every child at Churchill has a cellphone. Sending out alerts to phones would be easy, quick, and cheap.

Churchill can only do so much without MCPS approval. MCPS catered to the ultra liberal parents who don't want any security in the schools. So, this is what we get. Violence at the school and slow police times. This isn't just a Churchill issue and removing security at the schools was a mistake. Not all kids have phones so relying on phones is an issue but they could even put up signs, sound an alarm or something like they did when we went to HS.

They did not remove security at schools, they remove worthless SROs at schools. There are security guards at schools.
Stop with your Fox News, Q propaganda.
Idiot

Because an unarmed rent a cop will be a deterrent lol

Well SROs were never a deterrent, were they?

You’re so dumb:

Yes, they have. One example here in MD.

By Matthew Barakat and Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press

GREAT MILLS, Md. — A teenager with a handgun shot and critically wounded a girl inside a Maryland school on Tuesday and the shooter was killed when a school resource officer confronted him moments after the gunfire erupted.

Even closer to home an Ari took a gun from a student at Clarksburg before he could do any damage. SROs are critical in preventing or minimizing violence in schools.

It was the students who alerted the SRO.

Right, because he had a good relationship with the SRO. Exactly what rational people want. Maybe he would have told the principal. Or a teacher. I don't know. But he told the SRO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The MCCPTA advocated for an alert system after the bomb threat incident at Churchill years ago under Benz. Both that incident and last week’s assault highlighted the most vulnerable times of the school day is when students are coming to school - either at the beginning of the school day or at lunch. These are the times doors are unlocked and students are outside coming into the building. Not an easy time to lockdown the building or get students to safety.

MCPS needs to wake up and realize safety attacks will come at these periods of vulnerability, not on their class schedules.

And how should MCPS address that risk?

Use the same robo phone, text, and email service that Mr. Taylor uses for his Sunday announcements. You can prepare a general lockdown alert that tells students on campus to go into the building and secure themselves in a classroom. For students not on campus should go home till it is safe to go to school.

College campuses have used such alerts for over a decade. MCPS has the technology but has never used it to improve school safety.

I don’t know about other families, but my HS student doesn’t get those robocalls, the parents do. My kid would never see an MCPS email in time to react to an emergency. They probably wouldn’t answer a phone call from MCPS, either. They might see a text, but there’s a chance they wouldn’t even read it right away if it weren’t from a friend or family member.

We all just get so much canned messaging from MCPS that nobody treats any of them as urgent. I think it would need to be a dedicated emergency source in order to be of any use in a real emergency. The emergency text/email service at the university I work for is completely separate from any other messaging. If you see a message from them, you know something is happening right now.

Churchill has the ability to text, call, and email alerts to students. They have the phone number and MCPS email for my child which is alerted on his chrome book and phone. It’s not rocket science and there could be a special format for security alerts.

If Churchill and MCPS are too dense to come up with a plan, there are security firms that perform risk assessments for schools so safety improvements are implemented. Every child at Churchill has a cellphone. Sending out alerts to phones would be easy, quick, and cheap.

Churchill can only do so much without MCPS approval. MCPS catered to the ultra liberal parents who don't want any security in the schools. So, this is what we get. Violence at the school and slow police times. This isn't just a Churchill issue and removing security at the schools was a mistake. Not all kids have phones so relying on phones is an issue but they could even put up signs, sound an alarm or something like they did when we went to HS.

They did not remove security at schools, they remove worthless SROs at schools. There are security guards at schools.
Stop with your Fox News, Q propaganda.
Idiot

Because an unarmed rent a cop will be a deterrent lol

Well SROs were never a deterrent, were they?

You’re so dumb:

Yes, they have. One example here in MD.

By Matthew Barakat and Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press

GREAT MILLS, Md. — A teenager with a handgun shot and critically wounded a girl inside a Maryland school on Tuesday and the shooter was killed when a school resource officer confronted him moments after the gunfire erupted.

Even closer to home an Ari took a gun from a student at Clarksburg before he could do any damage. SROs are critical in preventing or minimizing violence in schools.

It was the students who alerted the SRO.

Right, because he had a good relationship with the SRO. Exactly what rational people want. Maybe he would have told the principal. Or a teacher. I don't know. But he told the SRO.

How many students even know the principal or assistant principals in a high school. Be real. And, most aren't approchable. Ours don't respond to emails or calls.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The MCCPTA advocated for an alert system after the bomb threat incident at Churchill years ago under Benz. Both that incident and last week’s assault highlighted the most vulnerable times of the school day is when students are coming to school - either at the beginning of the school day or at lunch. These are the times doors are unlocked and students are outside coming into the building. Not an easy time to lockdown the building or get students to safety.

MCPS needs to wake up and realize safety attacks will come at these periods of vulnerability, not on their class schedules.

And how should MCPS address that risk?

Use the same robo phone, text, and email service that Mr. Taylor uses for his Sunday announcements. You can prepare a general lockdown alert that tells students on campus to go into the building and secure themselves in a classroom. For students not on campus should go home till it is safe to go to school.

College campuses have used such alerts for over a decade. MCPS has the technology but has never used it to improve school safety.

I don’t know about other families, but my HS student doesn’t get those robocalls, the parents do. My kid would never see an MCPS email in time to react to an emergency. They probably wouldn’t answer a phone call from MCPS, either. They might see a text, but there’s a chance they wouldn’t even read it right away if it weren’t from a friend or family member.

We all just get so much canned messaging from MCPS that nobody treats any of them as urgent. I think it would need to be a dedicated emergency source in order to be of any use in a real emergency. The emergency text/email service at the university I work for is completely separate from any other messaging. If you see a message from them, you know something is happening right now.

Churchill has the ability to text, call, and email alerts to students. They have the phone number and MCPS email for my child which is alerted on his chrome book and phone. It’s not rocket science and there could be a special format for security alerts.

If Churchill and MCPS are too dense to come up with a plan, there are security firms that perform risk assessments for schools so safety improvements are implemented. Every child at Churchill has a cellphone. Sending out alerts to phones would be easy, quick, and cheap.

Churchill can only do so much without MCPS approval. MCPS catered to the ultra liberal parents who don't want any security in the schools. So, this is what we get. Violence at the school and slow police times. This isn't just a Churchill issue and removing security at the schools was a mistake. Not all kids have phones so relying on phones is an issue but they could even put up signs, sound an alarm or something like they did when we went to HS.

They did not remove security at schools, they remove worthless SROs at schools. There are security guards at schools.
Stop with your Fox News, Q propaganda.
Idiot

Because an unarmed rent a cop will be a deterrent lol

Well SROs were never a deterrent, were they?

You’re so dumb:

Yes, they have. One example here in MD.

By Matthew Barakat and Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press

GREAT MILLS, Md. — A teenager with a handgun shot and critically wounded a girl inside a Maryland school on Tuesday and the shooter was killed when a school resource officer confronted him moments after the gunfire erupted.

LOL. Your post doesn't help your case
Did the SRO prevent the girl from getting shot? Was the SRO a deterrent?

You sound like a Trumper. "The SRO didn't help because one girl got shot" is on par with "vaccines don't work because some people are still dying of Covid."

Au contraire, Trumpers like you love SROs so they can rough up some minority kids.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Seems like a lot of these posts are trying to shift the blame away from a knife-wielding student to others. SROs have dubious benefits at best. El Rich was right to remove them there are a waste of tax dollars. Further it wouldn't have mattered in this case even if the SRO didn't just run away.

BINGO!

The knife-wielding student (and the broader mcps punishment issue if the kid is allowed to remain in public school) is the main issue here. Whether we should have SROS is a good debate, too, but I'd hope that people would listen to the pros and cons before rushing to judgment.

But I generally get frustrated when people who have almost no knowledge of a situation diagnose what everyone else did wrong. We have only tiny bits of information, yet people assume they know how the situation would be best handled.

This same issue revealed itself loud and clear at the last PTA meeting. Parents assumed they knew best about things like where kids should eat lunch (as a reminder, there was a chorus of voices saying more kids should be allowed to eat in the bus loop and the principal said he limited it to seniors because there wasn't a good way to secure the area... and yet the question came up over and over by parents who thought they knew better).

Parents complained that lunchlines were way too long and the principal pointed out that kids have a full hour for lunch and if they check in with teachers or hang out with friends first, then there is virtually no line at all 20 minutes into lunch.

Parents complained that kids should be able to eat wherever they wanted in the building (especially the second floor), and the principal pointed out that not only is there a monitoring issue (limited staff to ensure safety if kids are literally everywhere), but the second floor has several areas where kids try to take makeup tests at lunch and the noise is distracting.

What I'm saying is that no one on this board really understands the full detailed picture of what happens (nor should we-- that's what we hire administrators for). So when parents with little information think they should criticize how things are handled, it's kind of a joke. But the frustrating thing is that it just adds to all of the discord in our community, adding negativity and stress for everyone.

No problem with asking the principal a question at the PTA meeting (and having an open mind for the response). No problem in voicing a concern on behalf of your kid. But don't assume you know everything and can do everyone's job better than they can-- you almost certainly don't and can't.

[phone]

Some of us have had children in schools other than MCPS. Some of us have seen what is feasible but is not being done at Churchill. Some of us witnessed events first hand so saw clear failures by Churchill and the police last week to respond in a timely manner.

In an active shooter situation or even in a knife situation where there are casualties, 20 minutes will cost lives.

So how did that SRO workout in the Parkland shooting again?

[Anonymous]

At last night’s PTA meeting, Mr. Taylor said that he and other principals support bringing SROs back into high schools. He encouraged parents to reach out to the Board of Education.

Another key takeaway is that parents and students want faster communication so they know the danger letter. Instead of a carefully crafted and edited Central Office email, a text to reduce anxiety and fear would have helped. For example, “There was an incident at school so students are safely sheltering in place. No threat in the building. Classes taking place as usual. More information coming shortly.” As is, scared students were texting parents in real time with inaccurate information.