Justice

I am stressed out by some of the coverage of the Abby Zwerner case. That teacher needs to be given all the money she is suing for. As a retired administrator, I cannot imagine not responding to a concern that a student may have a weapon. Believe me, most administrators really are on it, unlike the administrator in question. It makes me ill that they are lumping administrators all together. I cannot tell you how many times I responded to a teacher’s concern similar to this. More than once is once too many when it comes to these kinds of problems. Thorough searches were done. Threat assessments were done. Videos were watched. People were interviewed. Parents were called. Documentation was done. Students were suspended or expelled. Law enforcement was called when needed. A plan was made for the student. This took up A LOT of time, but this was always the number one priority in my book.

It was said that the administrator was giving a makeup state test. I don’t know anything on the administrative plate that is more important than the safety of the students and staff! State tests are not high on my list of importance for many reasons, quite honestly, but that’s a story for another day. The administrator in this case was negligent, in my opinion. How could you not check this out? If she REALLY felt she could not leave, she could have called another administrator. How many admins were in the building? I know they said teachers were not supposed to check bags. What would be wrong with asking a child to unzip their own bookbag for you?

I had to check bookbags daily as a teacher AND a principal at times. This is not what I signed up for when I became a teacher, but it needed to be done. I went into teaching because I loved kids and teaching them. I looked over the adults for anything suspicious as they entered the building all the time. I escorted people to meetings when I could because I didn’t want any strangers walking through the building when I had students and staff in there. I never had a school resource officer daily. We “shared” one with the other county schools. The administrative assistant and I were the front line.

The defense tried to discredit Abby. I hate the way the courts treat educators. I know that is why the attorneys are hired, but most teachers are good, hard-working people who would do anything for their students. Honestly, the Abby Zwerner situation could have been avoided if the administrator had gone to the room and looked in the bookbag immediately. Not only is Abby suffering psychologically, but so are the children and teachers at the school. Most admins always have this scenario at the back of their mind. I can’t even count the number of nights I lay awake worrying about other people’s children.

All of this is my opinion with thirty years of experience under my belt.

Later…