On Wed. March 7, Secretary of the Department of Education Betsy DeVos visited Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to speak to survivors of the Feb. 14 shooting. She arrived at the school at 8:45 a.m. with a small SUV motorcade. She immediately went to the front office to meet with Principal Ty Thompson, Assistant Principal Denise Reed, guidance counselors and office staff.
She then moved to the media center, where she met with some of the district representatives, grief counselors and a few students. She then answered a couple questions from student journalists in the room.
After senior Kyra Parrow asked DeVos about her agenda to prevent further school shootings, the secretary answered that her agenda was “to ensure that the students of our country are able to pursue their learning in a safe environment. I am going to make sure that we bring forward solutions that communities can put in place that will be appropriate for their surroundings and will ensure that they can care for their students.”
DeVos then walked with Thompson to the 1200 building, the site of the tragedy, and placed a wreath along the fence surrounding it. This was previously arranged with Thompson in order to honor the victims of the shooting.
DeVos then made her way to the auditorium. Instead of choosing to speak in front of all students, she slowly made her way around to different groups of students. She introduced herself to many of them, offering her condolences and comfort in this time of need and healing.
“I think she felt the need to actually come and see us all in person,” Thompson said. “She wanted to come around and thank our staff for all they have done. It was a hands on thing: she wanted to be here and feel the atmosphere and understand what was really going on on campus.”
After briefly speaking again with Thompson in his conference room, DeVos entered her car after an hour visit and left the campus. Thompson was extremely touched by DeVos’s and other government officials’ support throughout these past devastating few weeks.
“It’s unfortunate that this all has to occur under such terrible circumstances and that we are in this situation,” Thompson said. “But, the love and support from around the world has been unprecedented… They are all here to show love and support for our school, which is heartwarming for me.”
Though many were honored to have the secretary at our school, some were unimpressed with her lack of answers.
“She wasn’t informative or helpful at all. It’s nice that she came to give us condolences, but we are so done with thoughts and prayers. We want action,” Parrow said. “She didn’t come to inform us or talk about how we are going to fix this issue; she just came to say that she came. That disappoints me.”
Afterwards DeVos held a press conference at the Marriott, discussing her visit and experience at MSD.
Michael Rollings • Mar 12, 2018 at 1:16 pm
I have just heard Rebecca Schneid on BBC Radio 4 (England). All I hear is” Gun Control “.A gun without ammunition is useless unless you want to throw it at somebody! It is like having a plate with no food on it, soon you will starve.
It cannot be beyond the wit of man/woman to impose controls on manufacturers and suppliers of ammunition (how many are there?) to distributors , retailers and the end user. In the U.K. you cannot get certain medicines without a prescription and only after being sanctioned by a Doctor.The only people who want ammunition in large quantities must be the Military.There can only be one of three other reasons (possibly a fourth which I will mention later)–First: 1) to shoot at inert targets 2) to shoot birds or animals 3) to maim, would or kill a person or persons.To satisfy 1) join a Gun Club where ammunition is rationed and controlled as to who gets it .2) control through Licences, in the U.K . guns must be in a secure cupboard and the Police do an annual inspection before a licence is re-issued.3) the individual must register if he/she wants a gun, but will not automatically be supplied with ammunition. The target must be to starve the system of ammunition,so eventually no one has ammunition without Legitimate reason.A TV crime series recently tracked down the culprit through analysing the bullet in the victim, it had a year of production and where it was manufactured stamped on it.
My fourth reason that an individual may want to own a gun is to be “Mr Big”.This is Macho man/boy. The huge bulk of school shootings (90 + % ) are committed by men, and usually young men. Mr Trump’s answer is to tackle mental illness.I would suggest if he tackles the Macho culture it would be more fruitful.American culture, in part, is viewed from across here as being “Macho”.You have Rambo, we have Bond(gentleman). Mr Trump is adept at Tweeting and is good with the put down e.g..N .Korea President -“Little Rocket man”…Islamic state ISIS -“Losers” and so on.For those who wish to hold guns for no sound reason I would suggest he tweets “Macho Munchkins”…see WikiPedia for Munchkins
In the U.K in medieval times “The Stocks” were a popular form of punishment.Not that they were physical punishment more a psychological one.It was humiliation by having local villages throw tomatoes etc. at you, whilst feet and arms were restrained in wooden stocks.I think Macho Munchkins would humiliate those who want guns without good reason.
It would be re-assuring to know if the message got through to Becca. Here we have a well known Royal Journalist,Camilla Tominey who has done work for NBC and works for The Sunday Express(uk).She has shown an interest in the suggestion.Can’t guarantee she would pick up on it, but she is far enough away from the NRA maybe to air views over here…but it would be better coming from Trump himself.
Judith • Mar 9, 2018 at 6:36 pm
You are spot on about the secretary.. Her real interest is private schools. She has never taught and could never get a job as a school administrator. So how did Trump “drain the swamp”?
Greta • Mar 8, 2018 at 4:48 am
Florida legislation decided that arming teachers and staff is the answer. Really? More guns? I know I can’t go back into the classroom knowing my unstable principal has a gun. Get rid of assault weapons!
WB • Mar 8, 2018 at 4:30 am
A juvenile “Useful Idiot” shreiking for a gun, and driving decent Americans away from the extremists in the democrat party…..
richard smith • Mar 7, 2018 at 1:27 pm
You should do a piece on why wealthy donors from both political parties become cabinet members with zero experience. WTF when did we vote on that? These should be elected by the public based on skills not donations.
Jim G • Mar 8, 2018 at 2:31 am
This is where we hold our representatives accountable. They approve the nominations of the currently extremely unqualified appointments to the offices being held. The level of incompetence in the federal government department heads under this administration is unprecedented.
Good work and much respect to the kids at MSD in their work in this paper, and handling the national attention they’ve all gotten. This nation is with you.
Victoria LoSchiavo • Mar 7, 2018 at 8:33 am
I’ve been waiting to see how long it would take Sec. DeVos to arrange a photo op in Parkland. Sorry that MSD students have to contend with this sort of venal behavior on the part of administration opportunists; however, there seems to be a consensus in the press, both domestic and foreign, that DeVos’s dog and pony show “wasn’t informative or helpful at all.” The EagleEyeMSD crew nailed it!