Close to Home: Good intentions vs. reality of school safety

I have a bit of a wardrobe crisis. Many groups who are showing support for student safety right now, all with the idea of wearing specifics colors.

So, should I wear orange and black to support Santa Rosa High School, yellow to support the Safe Campus Alliance, blue and gold for the Santa Rosa Teachers Association or “red for ed” for the broader crisis with education?

In the end, I went with all of it, along with my American flag pin, because it takes a village to support our kids. It definitely gets confusing with all the different groups, but isn’t that what democracy is about?

The next assignment was developing my speech for the Santa Rosa school board meeting to express my feelings about their various harmful policies. I have spoken before the board many times in my 25 years in the district. Things have changed a bit though. I used to always go down to the front when I spoke. Unfortunately, that is reserved for district officials. So I have to use one of the microphones in the back.

At one time it got very crowded at these meetings. For years, people assembled in huge numbers to petition the school board, attendance limited only by the capacity set by the fire marshal. The pandemic changed all that, and now most assemblies are a lot more limited.

I understand how things have changed. Public meetings have become a lot more heated and government officials worry about their safety. They worry about violent individuals who might cross the line form expressing opinions to threats of violence. It’s probably why we see a police presence at more meetings. They deserve to feel safe from threats of violence.

So, what would I actually say to the school board that hasn’t been said by parents, students and the community at large? There already had been multiple meetings, listening sessions, two separate district-created committees, a few surveys and a lot of media attention. Would they actually make necessary changes this time?

When the first student-led protest happened last spring, I was so proud of my students. They organized, they worked on their messaging, they spoke out, and they exercised their constitutional rights to free speech, assembly and petition. As a government teacher (that is the same thing as civics, by the way), I couldn’t have been prouder. All the theory that I taught them was being put into action!

Unfortunately, life often shows us that reality has a way of overcoming theory. Good intentions give way to the reality of results. Instead of being in that board room, I watched as several of my students and many of my colleagues stood out in the cold, prevented from being inside. The new rules for safety at meetings were used to limit the numbers of people allowed in, and many of the seats were filled by district officials. I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable and legal explanation that will be put forward in a press release.

So, what do I say that hasn’t already been said? Do I repeat the talking points that our students deserve to feel safe, that reinstituting the school resource program is a necessary step, but must be part of a holistic solution that requires reexamining policies on discipline, university-prep graduation requirements for all and the responsibility of all stakeholders? I did that in the very pages of this paper last April. I think there is only one thing left to say to Santa Rosa’s school board.

See you in November.

Andy Brennan is a government teacher and the safety coordinator at Santa Rosa High School.

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