Letter: Vote for safe schools

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No school is safe. April 20 marked the 25th anniversary of the Columbine shooting. A student who was an eighth grader of mine in New York moved to Colorado to be with his dad. He led his classmates out of the library — if not for his initiative, there would have been a higher death toll. He spent the next five weekends of his life going to the funerals of classmates.

Ask the parents of children who attended Sandy Hook Elementary School or Uvalde or Parkland. They packed lunch boxes and marked their calendars for soccer practice and dropped their children off at school. And then their children were dead.

I met an officer who spent so much time with all of the children K-8 at Deer Isle Stonington Elementary School. He answered their questions. He played basketball during recess. I trust him, but I don’t know where he will be when an active shooter enters the school, despite the multiple security measures.

If you want safe schools, vote for the legislators who support mental health measures. If you want safe schools, vote for the legislators who support gun safety (not gun control, people should get over their 2nd Amendment rights and think about the children they cherish).

Mickie Flores, educator
Deer Isle