CAMILLUS -- President Obama released his anti-gun violence plan executive actions this week, creating a stir in the gun control debate.
His plans also directly addressed schools, something on the front of everyone's minds following the Newtown School Shooting. Regarding schools across the nation, Obama said law enforcement, first responders and school officials should be provided with proper training for active shooter situations. In relation to those situations, he said schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education need to develop model emergency response plans. He also said schools should be provided with incentives to hire school resource officers.
West Genesee Central School District was just one school district to increase security the day of the shooting, and much like other districts in Central New York, they are looking to the future, and how to prevent attacks from happening here in Central New York. Superintendent Chris Brown says they have had a school resource officer for years at West Genesee, and that he says they are important, especially when it comes to educating the rest of the staff in regards to difficult situations.
Regarding preparedness in active shooter situations, Brown said they currently perform lockdown drills, but are still working on implementing the "active shooter" situation, not only to educate the students, but the teachers and staff as well. He did think something has been missing from the conversation though.
"What we haven't talked about are people that are out in our community that maybe just are really down on their luck, having a difficult time, and maybe have children in school, and they lose it, maybe they lose it over the playing time of their child in a sport, maybe they lose it over a custody situation," Brown says.
He says those kinds of situations are difficult, because there is currently no law that allows him to deal with someone like a parent who can go on school grounds, but poses a security risk. He hopes lawmakers continue to talk about ways to keep children safe, in addition to the current talks going on today.
