When Duty Calls

Flags are flying at half staff in Connecticut today, not that anybody in that state needs reminding of the horrific event that once again stunned our nation with its raw savagery.

 Sandy Hook Elementary School, 12/14/12

We expect to occasionally hear the unfortunate news that a first responder is suddenly cut down in the line of duty. However, all first responders know death is in their job description.

It takes an extraordinary event like the Worcester fire tragedy or 9/11 to grab us by the throat so we suddenly pay attention again.

Teachers on the other, are not expected to die in the routine performance of their daily duty.  Columbine changed that.  Sandy Hook moved the bar a little higher.

And since not much has changed, the next one will be even more unspeakable.

Shouldn't they call this "Shelter in Place"?

Shock Therapy @ Amherst Middle School

Calvin Terrell defending his "warrior" philosophy to a packed meeting of unhappy parents

In the wake of the Newtown/Sandy Hook tragedy you would think a public speaker addressing children in a forced school assembly would be careful about conjuring up images for such an impressionable audience to contemplate:  like that of a  beloved five-year-old being shot in the head,  with the resulting damage so great the wake is closed casket.

Or the other adult person you love, also involved in this hypothetical active shooter scenario, ending up dead from gunfire as well. 

What any of this has to do with improving racial harmony I'm not overly sure.  Neither were the traumatized kids who heard this explicit speaker, Calvin Terrell, doing his shtick yesterday morning at Amherst Regional Middle School.  Even scarier, he prefaced his performance by saying this would be his "5th grade presentation".

School officials had to make counselors available all day yesterday and plan to do so today as well.

ARMS Principal Marisa Mendonsa addresses standing room only crowd of upset parents

At a contentious "coffee with the principal" this morning at ARMS attended by almost 50 parents -- 90% of them displeased with yesterday's performance -- Mr. Terrell apologized for his graphic presentation.

School Principal Marisa Mendonsa apologized for not making sure "parental notification" went out the day before, warning about the potentially upsetting nature of the graphic talk.

Numerous parents used the term "inappropriate",  with one going so far as to brand it, "totally irresponsible, it was horrible!"  When Terrell likened himself to Santa Claus, an angry parent shot back:  "You were not Santa Claus, you were the Grim Reaper."

One parent confirmed his child had to leave the assembly that morning to find a bathroom and then threw up. 

Terrell defended his invocation of the Sandy Hook horror by comparing the universal devastation brought on nationwide by that tragedy, yet people don't get  upset when millions die in the Congo.

Kind of like saying 9/11 was not such a big deal because only 3,000 died vs the 10,000 who die annually via drunk drivers or 400,000 who die from cigarettes.

Other parents were upset with his use of the word "retard" when describing an incident of bullying. Of course one parent wondered if he would be so quick to have used the "N-word" in such a scenario.

 Talib Sadiq, Climate Coordinator and Principal Mendonsa stand before parents

While the presentation yesterday morning was not filmed, school officials confirmed that Mr. Terrell will redo his performance next Thursday night at the Middle School so parents can get a taste of what their children endured for two hours.

Better yet, he should simply be terminated from his $38,000 contract.  Now!

Schools start to backpedal

The High Cost of Safety

Dare I even breath the word?

Dare I remind you of that stunningly sad Friday morning when our run of the mill routine was suddenly and forever broken.  By a madman ... with a gun.  Unleashing barrage after barrage of .223 caliber bullets on our most innocent, priceless possession: Children.

And the teachers and staff parents entrusted them with, who died defending their helpless young students in a heroic attempt to uphold that trust. 

Newtown.  Sandy Hook Elementary School.  A tragedy of epic proportions now forever known by either moniker.  What 9/11 did for airline security, Newton has done for school security. 

Take Amherst's three elementary schools for instance.  This morning the schools director of facilities and maintenance Ron Bohonowicz paid a visit to the Joint Capital Planning Committee to defend capital item requests for the upcoming fiscal year.

Ron Bohonowicz, Director of Facilities and Maintenance, right 

One such item is $150,000 for new "columbine" locks on all doors in the town's three elementary schools (average cost $300/lock) ) as well as panic bars for the inside of doors.  Currently the Middle School and High School have such locks. 

In addition to physical upgrades the schools have also instituted new security procedures for parent pick up, lock the main doors and use security cameras to screen visitors, plus have periodic security inspections with APD and AFD.

$150,000 for locks and panic bars is, indeed, expensive.  But so are the cost of funerals.  

(Sad) Sign of The Times

Crocker Farm School Staff participated in a security drill this afternoon

Amherst schools have continued to tweak security protocols in the wake of the Newtown tragedy. But nothing radical, as they are not exactly reinventing the wheel.

According to ARPS Superintendent Maria Geryk, "We are fortunate that we have spent lots of time creating our safety plans over the years, so that we are not making major adjustments at the moment. We are just really tightening up some of our procedures."

She continues, "I expect that there will be additional changes over time as we spend more time updating our plans."

Today's exercise was a "school level drill" vs the more expansive district level "table top drills" orchestrated in conjunction with Amherst police and fire departments. Superintendent Geryk reports "Things are going well with these brief drills."

According to a pundit the Newtown massacre will do for school security what 9/11 did for airport security.  True enough.

Just as a gorgeous September morning with perfect temperatures under a deep blue cloudless sky, can never again be innocently enjoyed quite the same; neither will the sights and sounds of a room full of happy, chatty, first graders.

Schools talk safety

Visible Symbols

 Crocker Farm Elementary School, Monday morning

So for the first time in memory, I was actually happy not to see an overt police presence, even though that was the expectation.  Not that uniformed officers make school children or their parents nervous.

At least, normally, not in Amherst.

But these times are far from normal.  The shock waves from Friday's mass murder are still profoundly in the present, like the dark gloomy weather that delayed by two hours the opening of the Amherst schools this morning.

A police department is, by nature, reactionary.  You see something wrong, call 911, and they come quickly.  But they can't possibly stand guard, at all our schools, during all their hours of operation.   For that we would need to mobilize the National Guard.

And is that the message we want to send to our kids:  Our schools can only be safe when patrolled by armed guards?

Amherst has come a long way in implementing strong security protocols, a byproduct of Jere Hochman's tenure circa 2003-2008.  Before that, the doors remained open during school hours.  In spite of what happened at Columbine in 1999.

But then again, when I grew up in Amherst a generation ago, my mother never felt the need to lock the front door at night.

Our flag is at half staff today to honor and remember those innocent lives lost ... but will soon return to its routine position atop the staff.  Friday however -- like 9/11 -- was a morning to never forget.

The horror ... the horror ...

Last week when the first dispatch went out over the airwaves saying a child was hit by a school bus at an Amherst elementary school, my mind instantly flashed back to the horror of three years ago where a 2-year-old child broke free from his mother at a bus stop and ended up under the wheels of moving bus.

One of my daughters at the time was the same age as the child killed in that horrific accident.

Yes, it's human nature to always initially fear the worst: You hear about an earthquake in a foreign county where friends or family are vacationing, and instantly assume they have been impacted. Last week I titled that post "A Parent's Worst Nightmare," because nothing can be worse than losing a child. Nothing.

So I'm at a loss to now come up with a headline that captures the bottomless horror of an incident that erases the lives of twenty innocent children, all of them the same age as my youngest.

As CNN anchor Aaron Brown watched the second tower collapse live on air on that unforgettable morning he said somberly, "There are no words ...".

Once again, as our entire nation mourns, there are no words.