Mountain View Whisman School District

Agenda Item for Board Meeting of 3/4/2021

Agenda Category:  REVIEW AND DISCUSSION

Agenda Item Title:  Public Request by Christine Le: Student Safety Issue (5 minutes)

Estimated Time: 

Person Responsible: 

Dr. Ayindé Rudolph, Superintendent

Background: 

I am an employee of Evergreen School District and a volunteer of Moms Demand Action.  I am writing to request that Mountain View Whisman School District send letters home yearly to all parents/guardians, to inform them of the need to safely store all firearms that may be present in the home.  Ideally, this would be part of the Back-to-School packet that parents are given at the beginning of each year, which they would need to sign and acknowledge that they have read and understood.  

Last year, California Education Superintendent Tony Thurmond sent a letter to all Superintendents in California asking for such a letter to be sent.  The statistics are this:  Every day in this country, one small child unintentionally shoots him/herself after finding an unsecured firearm in the home.  Every day in this country, two older children (mainly teens) die by suicide using an unsecured firearm from their home or a relative’s home.  Finally, 80% of mass school shootings are done by students or former students, whose weapon is an unsecured firearm they obtained from their home or a relative’s home.  

I know you are very busy figuring out the issue of safely re-opening schools.  But please understand that there has never been a more urgent time to send this letter home to parents.  Since COVID began last year, firearm sales have skyrocketed, 40% to new and inexperienced users.  With more time sheltering at home, the unintentional deaths of small children have risen by a shocking 43%.  In addition, we have seen a significant increase in mental health issues in both young children and teens, and the already high number of teen suicides by guns has now increased by 9%.  These numbers are heart-breaking and we need to do better.  The National PTA stands behind the safe storage of firearms to protect children.  We need to educate parents that this is the state law.