Parents, students and community members came up to the Green Bay School Board podium on Sept. 22, asking questions and raising concerns in the aftermath of a loaded handgun being brought to school.
Nearly every speaker wanted more done.
“Guns do not belong in school,” Preble parent Nicole Stromen said. “What are we committed to doing differently and meaningfully to prevent them?”
On Sept. 9, a student involved in a fight at Green Bay Preble High School was arrested after a gun was recovered from a backpack. Some speakers urged metal detectors, others more mental health resources.
Since the incident, the Green Bay Area Public School District has held a roundtable event to gather community feedback and implemented several policy changes, like clear backpacks and increased punitive measures for students involved in fights. The School Board plans to discuss the feedback at its Oct. 13 workshop meeting.
“Individuals this evening (have said) that we do not want to lose momentum,” board president James Lyerly said. “They don’t want to take this into the next school year.”
Two Preble parents supported physical security measures, like metal detectors. Stromen said she believed risks would exist until metal detectors were in place.
“This is not about politics, this is not about being right,” Stromen said. “It’s about protecting our children, our educators, and the futures of the Green Bay community.”
Stromen and Preble parent Chris Hanold agreed that they believed parents could fundraise enough to cover metal detection costs; Hanold pointed out that the district estimated they’d raised $42,000 for clear backpacks.
Chanel Leopold, Intra-City Student Council president and Preble student, read a statement from ICSC. The student council supports clear backpacks as a first step, but Leopold emphasized the need for stronger mental health resources and communication with students during crisis events.
“How did a gun end up in the hands of a student? Why did the student feel like they needed a gun? What can we do as a community, working together, to help prevent this from happening again?” Leopold said in a statement that was also translated into Spanish.
Green Bay School Board President James Lyerly speaks during a press conference on Sept. 11 at the district office in Green Bay. A handgun was found in a Preble High School student’s backpack on Sept. 9, prompting the district to consider new security measures
A father and son, Jeff and Jackson DeGrave, raised concerns about the district’s response to bullying. Jackson, a sophomore, said he’d been consistently bullied for years but that the district didn’t support him when he tried to report it. Both said they’d been told if they pursued the bullying report, Jackson would be suspended.
Jackson wants stronger, more consistent punishments for bullying. He said he worried that bullied students could resort to violence.
Paul Boucher, a former candidate for Green Bay School Board, said the issue was sociological. Force shouldn’t be matched with force, Boucher said.
Michael Fisher has a niece at Preble, and he came into the school after the Sept. 9 incident to sit with her at lunch. There, he saw a disconnect between the students and teachers that he says is the root of safety issues. When there’s no connection there, teachers weaponize school resource officers, Fisher said.
“If you built that rapport with that student and you connected and engaged with that student, it wouldn’t be an uphill battle,” Fisher said.
There was also support. Nancy Schultz, a former elementary school principal, said she supported the district’s efforts, calling them an “excellent first step.”
The School Board didn’t discuss safety options at its Sept. 22 meeting, but Lyerly presented a potential way to evaluate different options. The spreadsheet created groups, like effectiveness, cost, community support and equity, and assigned administrators to answer them ahead of the Oct. 13 meeting.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Preble parents, students tell Green Bay School Board they want more done
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