Schools, unveil your plan to protect our kids

Another tragic school shooting has shaken the nation. Nineteen-year-old Nikolas Cruz allegedly entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Wednesday and took the lives of 17 innocent people, leaving families and a community shattered and investigators seeking answers. My heart and prayers go out to those who are hurting from the loss of life and those who are still fighting for their lives.

As usual, the conversation has gone immediately to gun control. This happens every time, but a week then goes by, and nothing changes. I am already on record about so-called gun control, so I won't spend a whole lot of time on it. I'll just say this: Law-abiding citizens must be allowed to protect both themselves and the most vulnerable among us, and gun-free zones are an invitation for disaster because those within those zones are evil's sitting ducks. Schools are the softest of targets, and hardened evil people know it. Enacting new laws isn't the answer. We already have laws to address guns. Unfortunately, however, criminals are not inclined to follow the law. That's Common Sense 101.

What I will expound on is what I mentioned on social media after the shooting:

"We are not doing enough to keep our children safe in schools. Schools are soft targets, whereas they should be the safest places on the planet. No, we are not going to stop all evil; I know that. But we need to do everything possible toward that end. I have walked into schools and other places with children, even recently -- after all the carnage we have witnessed -- to unlocked doors, no security to be seen, and the freedom to go in any direction I want. No one stopping me. No one asking me a question. Just go wherever I want. We need to wake up! My heart goes out to those suffering in Florida right now."

Here's my proposal: I have often said that education should be handled locally; let local districts do their thing. However, since this is not the case, and we do have a Department of Education, we might as well put it to good use. Let's start with school safety, which should be priority number one.

What does that look like? For one, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her staff must find their way into every district, where they need to hold every administrator accountable. Ask superintendents and principals, "Is there anything -- even one thing -- you could be doing to ensure the safety of students in your care that you are not doing?" If the answer is yes, the next questions are, "What is it you're not doing?" "Why aren't you doing it?" and "When will you start doing it?"

To administrators who profess they are doing everything possible to keep students safe: "Let's see your plan." The plan must then be evaluated, and if the Department of Education finds holes in it, heads need to roll because if administrators cannot see what needs to be done, they need to be done.

We no longer want excuses. We want everything that can be done to be done. We want a plan. While administrators cannot do what is outside of their power, there are things that are within their power that, no doubt, most schools are not doing. If I can walk into places without any accountability, something is seriously wrong. People are either not paying attention or they don't care, and that means they're in the wrong business. Maybe there was a time when educators' only responsibility was to educate, but that is no longer the case. We cannot educate dead kids, and our kids are dying. The FBI admitted to dropping the ball in the Cruz massacre. He should never have been able to do what he did, and I cannot begin to imagine what the parents are going through, especially knowing now that the agency responsible for following up on Cruz did not. This was an inexcusable, incomprehensible, likely avoidable disaster that "Sorry" doesn't fix. And what about the school's responsibility? Cruz managed to enter the building at the end of the day, so the school obviously had no plan for keeping out people who shouldn't get in.

Schools have to have a plan that is within their power to perform. And the Department of Education has to make itself useful and do what schools are not able to do without assistance. Every single thing that can be done must be done: Lock the doors; search backpacks; install metal detectors; hire armed security; train and arm teachers. Everything is on the table. No one wants to hear, "We don't have the money." The federal government has the money for more asinine things than we can count: studying shrimp on a treadmill; figuring out why chimpanzees throw poop; evaluating the benefits of watching reruns; and, let's not forget, investing in scandal-ridden Planned Parenthood. Let's focus, instead, on protecting our most valuable and most vulnerable -- our children -- and holding people to account who are tasked with doing so, both locally and federally. These measures will not stop every evil person intent on doing harm, but they will increase our odds, and at this point, we'll take everything we can get.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member. Contact her at aross@semissourian.com.