Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will begin providing information about safe gun storage laws and practices on its website and in communications with families beginning next fall.
The effort is the result of a resolution introduced by school board member Lynne Harris (At-large) and unanimously approved Thursday by the board.
Harris told the board she proposed the resolution to “address the fact that gun violence is–unfortunately in the United States–the leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 1 and 19.”
Passage of the resolution comes at a time when the threat of gun violence and the presence of firearms has become more prevalent in county schools. This school year alone, multiple students at MCPS high schools have been arrested on campus in possession of loaded firearms and ghost guns, and schools have been evacuated or placed on lockdown after threats of violence or bombs were directed at schools.
According to school board documents, the resolution was initially influenced by a January letter from U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to school principals and district administrators across the country. The letter encouraged them to share information with students, parents and families about safe firearms storage, noting that the U.S. Department of Education had developed a customizable letter template that schools can use to disseminate the information.
Following the letter, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) on April 25 signed into law House Bill 0416, which requires the Maryland Center for School Safety, in consultation with state police, to develop “content informing parents of the state’s gun storage laws” by July 1, 2025, board documents stated. The law also requires the state’s public school systems to distribute the model content to parents and guardians at the beginning of each school year.
Kendall Sprague, a junior at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, implored the school board to pass the Gun Safety resolution at Thursday’s meeting.
“This resolution is important to me and my peers because there is an 85% lower risk of unintentional firearm casualty when homes lock both their firearms and ammunition,” Sprague said. “But secure storage does not only apply to unintentional shootings. Roughly 76% of school shooters acquired their firearm from the home, and access to a firearm triples one’s chance of death by suicide.”
Sprague, who is the founder and president of Churchill’s chapter of Students Demand Action, told board members she was grateful they were considering the resolution. It was clear to her that they had her safety and community’s safety in mind, she said.
“Unfortunately, we live in a country where gun violence is not uncommon. Unfortunately, we live in a country where children have to fear for their lives at what is supposed to be a safe place,” she said. “Why must I have that lingering fear in the back of my mind that I could be next? Why must I feel the need to look for the nearest exit in my classroom? Why is it that such an integral part of a child’s life has to include the potential for danger?”
Harris told MoCo360 on Tuesday that she was pleased to see that students saw value in the resolution.
Now that the resolution has passed, Harris said she wants to ensure that communication with school community members and the method of sharing the information is clear for parents, families and students.
With plans to start sharing information at the start of the 2024-2025 school year, Harris says MCPS will be one year ahead of the state mandate for disseminating safe gun storage communications.