Opinion: Our children and young people need comprehensive and urgent action to keep our communities safe

Guadalupe Guerrero

Guerrero is the Superintendent of Portland Public Schools.

Portland’s rampant gun violence and other persistent social issues are impacting school safety and student learning. When we think about violence prevention, we need to put children and their well-being at the center.

As a lifelong educator and leader of Portland Public Schools, my primary responsibility is to ensure the safety, well-being, and education of the children and youth in our care. educators, support staff and school leaders are involved in this important work and are dedicated to student success.

We are moving Portland Public Schools forward together. We are strengthening our education programs to help our students overcome the impact of the pandemic. We invest in additional counselors, social workers, tutors, mentors, and new materials in addition to our low class sizes, robust summer programs, and supportive community partnerships. We also maintain an ongoing and ambitious program of health, safety and school modernization projects and take concrete steps to protect our schools.

But our city’s broader social challenges have come to the point of jeopardizing our efforts to foster a positive learning environment.

In recent months, we have seen multiple instances of students being injured by gun violence right outside our school doors. We are grateful to the Portland Police Department for their continued cooperation in these recent cases. Help shape and determine development.

Together, we were able to coordinate an appropriate response. School districts benefit from having dedicated law enforcement personnel who are specially trained to work with youth and school leaders.

Of course, law enforcement agencies are essential to ensuring public and community safety. It is important that there is a clear working agreement regarding the school district’s relationship with law enforcement.

However, this does not mean that law enforcement officers must play a role in controlling student behavior and discipline at school. Student comfort goes beyond having officers inside and outside the school.

Peace of mind comes from long-awaited comprehensive solutions to our region’s most vexing problems. Develop and implement more innovative solutions and apply the necessary resources to address the issues of violence, crime, homelessness, addiction, mental health and unemployment that undermine our communities. We need city, county, and state leadership to do this. Even as we try to keep our schools safe, gun violence has already claimed the lives of many young people in our communities.

The students we are privileged to serve come to school every day how Portland’s social challenges impact their lives and families, and that impacts their readiness for learning. We learn best when we feel a sense of agency, belonging, safety, and stability.

Our job as educators is to know that we believe in our students, that they can trust us, and that we are here to help them succeed. Our job as a school system is to provide them with a quality education and to help them learn, grow and achieve.

Our job as a community is to provide proactive responses, more innovative solutions, assertive policy and civic action.

The new year is a time of reflection and I am deeply sorry for these violent intrusions. Yesterday, Portland ended his year of record violence and murder. As we collectively think about it, let our children and young people be at the center. Our children and young people need to work together and act urgently to make our communities safer.

By being a city focused on the well-being of children, youth and families, we help make schools safe and positive places to learn.