HomeMy WebLinkAboutAngie Schilsky letterBOT 01/11116
Monday, January 10, 2016
Good evening. My name is Angie Schilsky, and I am a Westlake Resident- I
reside at 1610 Fair Oaks Drive. First, I want to thank the board members,
mayor, and town manager. As public servants, I appreciate you generously
volunteering your time and energy to make our community better.
I am here tonight because, as a community member, I, too, want to make our
community better AND safer. I am an MD and the parent of 2 children who
attend Westlake Academy. i am requesting that the board investigate
adding a school resource officer to Westlake Academy. School resource
officers (SROs) are sworn law enforcement officers who are responsible for
providing security and crime prevention services in a school.
The recent events with school shootings, lockdowns, terrorism, etc have
resulted in generating some questions from concerned parents. There have
been 160 school shootings since the Sandy Hook elementary school terror in
Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, with 47 school shootings alone in 2015.
Investigators are finding that the San Bernadino terrorists had numerous
photos of a local high school on their phones, suggesting this was a planned
target. Unfortunately, it is now more likely for a school to go on lockdown
due to an armed individual than it is to have a fire or a tornado at school. Of
course, as parents our first priority is that our children are in a safe
environment. We know that you feel the same as school administrators, and
that you want to provide a quality, safe education at Westlake Academy.
I understand that a Keller PD officer makes random patrols around the
school, but I don't believe this is enough given the current climate and given
the unique situation on our campus which houses K-12 students in close
proximity. WA is unique in that we have a high school on campus right next
to our middle and elementary schools. As you well know, many of these
school shootings or threats are carried out by some crazed high school
student and not a random adult from the public.
To compare, many, if not all of the surrounding public ISD's have school
resource officers in their middle schools and high schools. Southlake Carroll
ISD has resource officers at every single school: elementary, middle, junior
high, and high schools. The Carroll Independent School District put
together a task force to study security after Sandy Hook in Dec. 2012.
The Carroll ISD school board unanimously voted for armed school
resource officers in every school in 2013. As you know, many
Westlake families have the luxury of being zoned into Southlake Carroll ISD
and will take the quality of education and safety into consideration when
choosing a school. Keller and Northwest ISD's have resource officers in
every middle school and high school.
In addition to providing a layer of security at the school and acting as a
deterrent to a potential armed individual, resource officers can work on
guidance and mentoring programs, reduce fighting and bullying among
students, improve student relations, and teach law enforcement related
topics such as Internet safety and drug abuse resistance training. The
officer becomes engrained in the fabric of the school and improves
relations. Case in point: The Walnut Grove elementary school resource
officer is so beloved by students and staff that at their annual
fundraiser, they actually auction off a group slumber party in the gym
with the officer. Last year, this item brought in $6,200. The "officer for a
day" auction item brought in $4,200.
I know I speak for many concerned parents when I request that the
town seriously consider putting a school resource officer at Westlake
Academy...because you really can't put a price on safety.
Thank you,
Angie Schilsky, MD
School shooting statistic websites:
http://www.cnn.com/2014a6/11/us/school-shootings-cnn-number/
http://everytownresearch.org/school-shootings/
School resource officer websites:
htt s: nasro.org
https://nasro.org/news/in-the-media/school-resource-officers-quest-
safer-schools/
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/school-resource-officers
https://www.fas.org/sg
isc R43126df
Local ISD's with school resource officers:
http://mysouthlakenews.com/2013/07/public-safety/new-school-
resource-officers-complete-training
http://www.nbcdfw.comirlews/local/Carroll-ISD-Adds-Armed-
Officers-to-Every-Campus-218620261.html
http://wwvv.nisdtx.org/Page/1127