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- Statement from PSESD
At its regular meeting on February 19, 2020, the Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD) Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution in support of school safety. The resolution affirms the Board’s commitment to the students, educators, administrators and families in the Puget Sound region.
More than 233,000 children at 243 schools have been exposed to gun violence at school nationwide, including 6,800 in seven schools in Washington state, since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, according to the Washington Post’s school shootings database. Further, students of color experience school shootings at disproportionately higher rates than white students.
"By high school, more than 20 percent of students in the Puget Sound region report that they don’t feel safe at school, and more than 10 percent miss school because they don’t feel safe.” remarked Jordan Posamentier, PSESD Board President. He continued, “State and federal government must support and fund school-based, universal social-emotional learning programs, which promote skills and attitudes that serve as protective factors and increase both staff and student sense of safety.”
PSESD’s School Safety Cooperative provides school safety and student wellness training and resources for teachers, staff and administrators. In 2019, the Washington State Legislature passed House Bill 1216, codifying the importance of a comprehensive school safety support system through Educational Service Districts statewide. PSESD is urging state legislators to fully fund this critical program in the 2020 session.
The Board’s resolution calls for programs and services that enhance the safety and health of students, educators and school staff, as well as strengthened gun safety regulations. PSESD plans to share its Board resolution with local, state and federal policymakers over the coming months.