Letter: School safety meeting questions unanswered

I attended the Marysville school district safety meeting on Jan. 16 and I'm still upset at the way it was handled.

We were told to get a comment card and write questions or comments down and hand into the panel.

The panel would read a question, comment aloud and assume the answer they gave was good enough.

In no way were they wanting feedback after they gave their very well-rehearsed statement and moved to the next question. One very upset mother stood and was almost in tears and pleaded with the panel to give her a better answer instead of the rehearsed one we all had heard several times that night.

We as parents want our kids to be safe whether it is on the playground, crossing the street or from some crazy person who may come on our child's campus with the intent of hurting our children, the teachers, staff and principal.

My question was, why do only some schools have officers on campus and others don't? Answer: "That is a site issue."

Are you kidding me? So, to clarify that, our schools are given a certain amount of money and have to figure out how to use it the best way.

The district is saying in order for our schools to be safer, the schools need to cut somewhere.

My question is, haven't our schools already had to cut until they can't anymore? Why is the safety of our schools not a district issue? Why doesn't the district take responsibility for the safety of our schools?

Take a moment today to thank your child's teachers, staff and principal for taking care of your kids, as many of us know they would all take a bullet for a child (even if the budget doesn't allow for it).

Thank you, Mr. Preston and all the staff and parents at Arboga Elementary School.

Gina Porter

Marysville