Educational Forum
On July 28, 2022 Senator Richardson held a bi-partisan Educational forum that provided everyone with an opportunity to get engaged. His Legislative Aid, Sara Poore, took the reins on organizing this phenomenal event.
We are all concerned with the safety of our children in a school setting. By attending, WDC President, Deborah Remer, was able to breech the topic with key stakeholders, school administrators, teachers, and lawmakers.
As an educator herself, knowing the ins and outs of a classroom and school procedure was key in offering solutions that could reduce tragedy in the event of an active shooter incident.
After the Uvlade school massacre the Democrat Party introduced a slew of gun control bills that restricted, impeded, and banned access to constitutional rights while Republican’s took a deep dive into school security.
Thanks to Kevin Hensley’s bill, HB 388, newly released funds enable schools to hire armed constables for each school in every district. Considering some districts were having to share just 1 school resource officer, this is good news.
Another reassuring factor, unlike other states, is that our Delaware Law enforcement agencies have automatic permission to act when an active shooter situation arises.
Although we would have like to see more accomplished, we are hopeful our children’s schools are harder targets because of this.
““I’d like to follow up on a brief conversation we had at the end of the education meeting this morning. One of the concerns I have related to school safety is that teachers must have access to medical trauma kits in the classrooms. We have bandaids, emergency drinking water, granola bars, emergency lights, and even a bucket to take care of bathroom needs…but we aren’t allowed so much as a tourniquet—let alone several — or chest seals, Israeli compression bandages, and the like, to stock a medical trauma kit so that school staff can tend to the wounded prior to the arrival of emergency personnel following a shooting incident.
Only one person in the school is allowed to administer such care: the school nurse. She may be incapacitated by the shooter, sheltering in place for her own safety, or too busy providing triage care to be able to tend to the needs of all students. It is imperative that we plan to keep children alive who may be caught in the crosshairs of a school shooter. I don’t know if this is a legislative issue or an administrative concern, but my understanding is that non-medical personnel are prohibited from providing such life-giving care.
Thank you for prioritizing the needs of children and families in the classroom while listening to teachers’ concerns as well.””
As we continue into the 2022-2023 school year, let’s remember we must all work together to ensure the well-being of our most precious is front and center. We cannot do that without engaging all sides with staunch facts driven by supporting data.
Thank you to the lawmakers who took the time to attend, listen with the goal of hearing, and take in the concerns that were brought forth.
