The first three were in response to an active shooter and the senseless, heartbreaking deaths of too many. Two of those tragedies occurred in schools; one of which was in St. Mary's County last week.
This statement is in response to the ongoing public discussions and meetings being held in response to the Calvert County Board of Education's meeting last Thursday night. Specifically, this is about the BOE's decision to not entertain a motion to discuss the topic of school shootings or arming School Resource Officers in Calvert County.
As we said Friday, the Calvert County Board of Education, like the Sheriff, State's Attorney and many other elected officials in Calvert County, were elected by the people to perform certain duties and command specific responsibilities.
In as much, so were we. We were elected to provide oversight over government functions and deliver appropriate and sound funding to all agencies. When we learned about the Florida school shooting, we immediately committed to provide the BOE with an additional $2 million dollars to build a more robust and secure environment for our students.
We echo the sentiment that we can't keep saying it won't happen here … because it just did.
And, it almost happened here, in Calvert County, Friday morning.
We are proud and encouraged to see our citizens engage in public debate. But, our citizens shouldn't have to.
The topic of student's safety has rightfully become a national conversation. We need to have this conversation here at home, at a local level.
We, collectively, need to demonstrate responsible leadership, have that conversation now, and take actions to keep our children and educators safe.