By MICHAEL SOLTMAN
For The Beachcomber

We at the Vashon Island School District are all deeply saddened by the recent news from Marysville of another senseless act of gun violence — this time a little closer to home. News of another school shooting is devastating for any parent, school faculty member, student, community member or superintendent.

At the school district, we will continue to work with first responders, conduct drills and coordinate emergency response plans, but in my opinion, those actions are tantamount to conducting emergency response from the bottom of the cliff and have had almost no effect on the prevention of such occurrences across our nation.

To address violence prevention, the schools must do two very important things. We must make a focused effort to connect with every student and family, especially those under stress, and to refer them to quality mental health services. We must also invent school-based systems that support our most vulnerable students in their academic and social success, and also inspire an inclusive school community with a positive and supportive climate for all.

To this end, the school district recently contracted with Vashon Youth & Family Services (VYFS) for student and family intervention services to support students with poor attendance to get to school daily. We are also launching a two-year project to review and add mental health curriculum and suicide and violence prevention education. The project will also increase training surrounding student mental health issues and intervention and provide additional support and education for parents and families.

I also request support from community members. First, lock up your firearms and keep ammunition and keys well hidden and separate from guns. Minors should only have access to firearms under adult supervision. No matter where you stand on gun control, clearly adolescent impulse and availability of firearms is a huge contributor to these incidents. Prevention must start in our island homes. We can all agree it makes sense to lock firearms up and to supervise any use by a minor. Further, parents should routinely ask other parents if their firearms are locked up before allowing children to visit another home.

Furthermore, our community is at huge risk without adequate counseling and intervention services for students and families in need. Seriously, this is a very scary situation that needs immediate attention — we must have quality mental health services available for our families. My second and urgent request is that you make a monthly pledge to support VYFS. Recent losses of grant funding there have severely limited VYFS’s services to the families in greatest need in our community. My wife and I make a monthly contribution because we know that VYFS is the community’s safety net and our best hope for a healthy and safe community.

I ask two things: Lock up your firearms. Make a monthly donation to VYFS. These two huge steps will go a long way to prevent violence in our community.

— Michael Soltman is the superintendent of the Vashon Island School District.