Reply to School safety - What is MCPS actually doing and considering doing?

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[quote=Anonymous]I hope you are all doing as well as can be, and that this post can unearth genuine insight and solutions, rather than promote unhelpful critical responses.

We're a family that moved into the BCC school watershed a few years ago. We have a few kids under age 5.  We planned to send our kids to public school, given the reputation of MCPS, and it was a big factor in our decision to move to the BCC cluster vs. stay in DC.

However, the number of stories about school safety issues that we're reading about through Bethesda Today, NextDoor, and the Washington Post -- from lockdowns to loaded guns (and threats thereof) to chairs being thrown at teachers -- gives us a lot of pause about sending our kids to public school. It's a national problem, we realize. While the actual likelihood of a mass shooting event is low at the elementary level, I wonder about the trauma of lockdowns and gun safety drills, even at the elementary school level. And the way things are going with racial tensions, economic disparity, lack of control policy, at the national level makes this feel like this is a problem that will get worse before it gets better -- for a long time.

Which brings me to these questions, for those more knowledgeable than I:

1.  What is the County doing, or considering, to protect elementary school kids from a mass violence incident, aside from locking the doors after kids arrive in the morning? 
2.  Are there any County efforts underway to place security guards (police or non-police) at elementary schools on a daily basis - esp. during recess / getting on and off buses, when the kids are most exposed? 
3.  How are parents bringing this up at the county level, and what has the county's response been?
4.  Is there precedent for a PTA to fundraise for a specific school to have someone patrolling the school during the school day, like there is at some DC public schools (I've heard, at least)? 
5.  How might I, as a prospective MCPS parent, think about my ability to advocate and organize for this type of security at an individual elementary school level?

Thank you in advance for your insight - and let's please keep this dialogue constructive.

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