MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — The discussion of school safety continues to be a big topic of concern following a shooting at Maryland high school last month. It’s a topic that has been discussed multiple times this week at Montgomery County Public Schools.
An MCPS spokesperson said they have seen an increase in physical violence since the return to in-person learning.
In January, a sophomore was found shot inside his school bathroom, according to Montgomery County Police Department, and a fellow student was charged in the shooting. Col. Magruder High School in Derwood was on lockdown for several hours as school leaders and police investigated the situation.
On Tuesday, Annmarie Boyd testified before a Montgomery County Board of Education meeting.
“School safety, gun prevention are very much on my mind these days and I’m sure you were wrestling with how the board will respond to those issues going forward," said Boyd.
Boyd is the mother of a Magruder High School student and member of the group Moms Demand Action. She said her son was at Magruder High School last month when the shooting happened.
“I’m also the mom of a Magruder High School junior who recently spent a very traumatic Friday afternoon in lockdown with his classmates after one student shot and seriously injured another with a ghost gun," said Boyd.
"As a Magruder mom, I ask that MCPS clearly and directly warn parents and guardians about the threats of ghost guns in our community," said Boyd.
For the first time in nearly two decades, Montgomery County began this school year without school resource officers inside its schools, out of concern that officers were disproportionately criminalizing the behavior of students of color.
New MCPS Superintendent Monifa McKnight said there were benefits to the SRO program but also drawbacks, as is the case with any program in the school system. She said recently the Board of Education was presented with a plan with some adjustments. Some of the changes make it so Community Engagement Officers, otherwise known as CEOs, have the opportunity to connect more frequently with principals.
"Another big component of the change in the program is being intentional about how those CEOs are building relationships into that and establishment of programs with our students in a very proactive manner, like the DARE program," explained McKnight. "And starting with our students and not just interacting with them to manage environments in the secondary schools, but establishing that relationship with elementary, middle, and high. We found success in the school system in having that interaction, that involvement through those programs."
Even with the changes, McKnight says the school system cannot solve all the problems alone. It has to be a collective conversation.
"What are we going to do as a community to address ghost guns not being available to our students? What are we doing to strike the balance with families who do decide to have a weapon in their home?" questioned McKnight. "There, just given those examples, you see the responsibility of legislators and how they have to make sure that's put into writing. What is the responsibility of our parents? What's the responsibility of community leaders to say, what do we need to do to solve this problem? To keep our children safe? And we all do that together, we're ultimately going to have safer schools because everyone's owning the problem."
Superintendent McKnight also emphasized that school disciplined would not be carried out by police officers in the buildings.
The updated program, being called "CEO 2.0" would increase police presence at schools, but not to the levels previously seen with the SRO program.
"I think this new iteration of the program promotes positive relationship building between young people of law-enforcement and ensures that we are not disproportionately impacted certain student groups including young persons of color," said Chief Marcus Jones with Montgomery County Police Department.