With just a few weeks left of summer break before the school year ramps up, school and district administrators had a decision to make when they heard news of the shooting at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pa., last Saturday.
As the nation reeled from news of the attack, which left a 50-year-old father dead and is being investigated as an attempted assassination on the Republican nominee, K-12 administrators had to determine if and when they would reach out to their school communities and how best to support students, staff, and parents.
The repercussions of the shooting will likely reverberate for schools in the coming months. This is the first time current K-12 students have confronted an assassination attempt of an American political figure of this magnitude. Educators are expecting students to have questions when they return to classrooms this fall—and for the shooting to potentially renew community members’ fears about gun violence in schools.
Also, school safety and student mental health might once again rise to the forefront of the national conversation, as several reports indicate that the suspected shooter was bullied as a child in school.
So, did administrators feel compelled to reach out to staff, students, or families in the wake of the violent incident? There’s no unanimous response, it turns out.
No single blueprint on if, when, or how to respond to school communities
Several of the dozen or so school personnel contacted for this article did not respond to inquiries or were out of the office. More than one school principal said they have no plans to address the assassination attempt directly with family members.
Some school administrators plan to address the shooting when school is back in session. Elizabeth Brown, the principal of Ocali Charter High School in Marion County, Fla., said her response will happen “almost immediately after students come back” to school during a school safety night for parents.
“[Parents] will be allowed to provide feedback, and they will be able to ask questions. I thought about doing this when I obviously was watching the news headlines because [the shooting] is going to be a big concern,” Brown said.
Not all schools base their responses to significant national events on the school calendar.
“For Andover to issue a statement, the event must directly impact our education mission, and our perspective should add value to public discourse,” wrote Tracy Sweet, the chief communications officer at Phillips Academy, an independent high school in Andover, Mass., in an email. “In the case of the tragedy in Pennsylvania last week, despite the gravity of the situation, we did not make a statement. Again, the timing of the news does not figure into our approach.”
Last summer, though, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions in higher education, the school responded immediately.
“It didn’t matter that the news broke in the summer,” Sweet wrote. “We spoke out publicly because the ruling had ripple effects that would impact our students as they applied to college.”
Katie Law, principal at Arapaho Charter High School in Wyoming, takes a highly personalized approach to responding to tragic incidents. The size of her school— 11 staff members and up to 50 students—plays a role.
“It’s very easy to get to know students and teachers,” Law said. “I know who will likely be impacted and can reach out to them first.”
In those individual messages, she includes resources for students to contact if they need additional support.
In the aftermath of violent incidents, students may have questions and potentially no one to turn to, Law said. Likewise, families might have questions from their kids that they don’t know how to answer.
Law also reached out to staff members with a group text: “Personal politics aside, how is everyone feeling after the events in Pennsylvania today? If you have any questions or thoughts, please know it’s OK to reach out.”
Leaders call for unity, but one state superintendent blames the left
Public comments from K-12 education leaders have been subdued, with a few exceptions.
Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, who has become known for his vocal criticism of public school teachers and what he sees as a “woke ideology” in schools, made this comment on social media following Saturday’s incident: “The left, the liberal media, and the radical extremists of Joe Biden’s party tried to assassinate @realDonaldTrump. They’ve tried to politically assassinate him through the judicial system. It did not work so they’ve resorted to actual violence.”
Walters’ comment runs counter to the majority of public messages that have been shared by leaders outside of K-12 education, many of whom have responded with calls for unity and concern for Trump.
Wall Street CEOs publicly condemned the incident and expressed sadness. Church leaders called for prayer. Even Trump and Biden, whose political campaigns until recently have been tinged with negativity, sounded a different tone after the shooting.
“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together,” Trump told reporters. Biden, in remarks following the incident, implored the country to “unite as one nation” and cautioned the public not to “make assumptions” about the shooter’s motives or affiliations.
These calls for unity come at a key time as school leaders prepare to navigate the remaining contentious months of the presidential campaign and its aftermath.
“I think the situation just makes us aware of how sometimes divided our nation can be, and the issues we are dealing with,” said Phil Wiken, an assistant principal of Owatonna High School in Minnesota. “It’s making sure that we have the ability to come together and still disagree but still be able to see each other’s perspectives.”
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