Green Bay Area Public School District building. (IMAGE: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Following last week’s incident at Preble High School, where a loaded handgun was found in a student’s backpack, the Green Bay Area Public School District turned to the public for feedback during a community roundtable.
“I really think getting community feedback and the administration’s collaboration is hopefully going to be helpful, and we get better answers,” said Kevin Garthwaite, a parent of GBAPS students.
Parents and family members were in attendance at Monday’s roundtable, but so were many students. All those who gathered participated in small group discussions to review possible solutions.
“I think at the end of the day, everyone wants to have the kids’ safety at heart, but I think we need to make something that is more common sense to try to come up with the best solution,” said Garthwaite.
The district is implementing a clear backpack mandate starting next Monday, but Superintendent Vicki Bayer says she has been getting other suggestions since last week. Some of the most common ideas are increased police presence, mental health resources and a change to the dress code to disallow baggy clothing.
Metal detectors also seem to be a popular option.
“I do think that metal detectors would be a more viable solution than clear backpacks, because who is saying a student can’t hide a weapon in their waistband? People do it all the time,” said Amani Paul, a student at Preble.
“I’m hopeful that metal detectors would be an option that would be explored, and hopefully, that’s maybe the better resolution,” said Garthwaite.
School and city leaders repeated the message that solving issues of public safety requires a community-wide response. At least on Monday night, the community did their part.
CESA 7 facilitated the roundtable and is putting together a presentation with the data from the discussions. That will be presented to the Board of Education at its Oct. 13 meeting.
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