Federal officials who examined school safety in the wake of the Parkland high school massacre concluded that a top recommendation to prevent mass shootings is to rescind policies protecting black and other minority students from being disciplined at disproportionate rates.



The Federal Commission on School Safety — formed after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida — was tasked with evaluating best practices to keep schools safe and compiling its recommendations in a report.

The nearly 200-page report looked at various aspects of school safety — including expanding mental health care — and largely avoided the issue of guns, claiming most school shooters get firearms from family members and not by purchasing them.

The report does not make any recommendations on changing state or federal gun laws and does not directly recommend arming teachers. Instead, it offers guidelines on arming "highly trained school personnel" if a school chooses to do so, particularly in rural areas where police officers are miles away from campuses and can take longer to respond.

"Through the Commission's work, it has become even clearer there is no single policy that will make our schools safer. What will work for schools in Montana will be different than what will work for schools in Manhattan," Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said in a statement.



An administration official told reporters on Tuesday that the report recommends rescinding the existing discipline guidance because "the commission was concerned with ... the recurring narrative that students were afraid because individuals who had a history of anti-social or in some instances aggressive behavior were left unpunished."

The existing guidance, issued by the Department of Education and the Department of Justice in 2014, under then-president Barack Obama, alerted school districts that they could be in violation of civil rights if minority students were disciplined, including being suspended or expelled, at higher rates than white students.

The deadliest school shootings in recent history have been committed by white students.

The Broward County School District in Florida started a program in 2013 — prior to the Obama administration guidance — that aimed to reduce the number of times students were referred to police, after data showed the district had the highest arrest rates in the state, and black students were disproportionately ending up in handcuffs. The program sent kids to alternative education settings designed to provide increased mentoring and intervention to correct their behavior.

The student charged in the Stoneman Douglas massacre was referred to the program in 2013 when he was in middle school for vandalism, but he never attended. He had an extensive list of school infractions ranging from 2012 to 2017, resulting in multiple suspensions, detentions, and temporary bans from the school bus.

An administration official told reporters Tuesday morning that the report recommends that schools review the security of their infrastructure — including windows, hallways, and doors — and, in some instances, have someone on school grounds armed with a firearm, who would collaborate with law enforcement.

The official said the report encourages more coordination between schools and local law enforcement, adding that some communities may benefit from hiring military veterans or retired law enforcement officers into school roles.

The report also includes recommendations aimed at reporters, saying news outlets should "be more responsible in how they cover" school shootings and should not publish pictures of the perpetrator.

The commission also recommended ensuring that students have better access to mental health services at school, enhancing social and emotional learning for students, and also suggested that states consider adopting "extreme risk protection orders" that would temporarily withhold guns from those who post a risk to themselves or others.

On Tuesday afternoon president Trump hosted the commissioners as well as people affected by school shootings at the White House and called the report "a very important thing."

"Nothing is more important than protecting our nation's children," Trump said.



Andy Pollack, whose daughter Meadow died in Parkland, called the report "the most comprehensive report by any administration on a school shooting."

"This is a huge step towards making our schools safe for our country," Lori Alhadeff, the mother of 14-year-old Parkland victim, Alyssa, told BuzzFeed News Tuesday morning, in response to the commission's findings.



Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime Guttenberg, 14, was killed in Parkland told BuzzFeed News that the work survivors of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas shooting have done so far really contributed to the quality of the report.

But, he said, "this commission by refusing to consider the role of guns in these incidents of gun violence, was missing the most critical piece," Guttenberg told BuzzFeed News Tuesday.

"It is my hope that in the days and months ahead that this administration will change course and work with me on the issue of gun safety," he said. "Only then, will this be a school safety report that I can fully embrace."

Mark Barden whose son Daniel was one of the 20 first-graders killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown issued a statement saying that the report correctly points to the need for all students to have access to mental health ersources.

"While we agree with several of the recommendations, we are deeply concerned with the Department’s continued support for putting more firearms in our schools," he said. "We believe that teachers and school administrators should be focused on education, not weapons training. Much more bipartisan work and leadership is needed from this White House and the new Congress to save lives and protect our children."