The school safety movement gets younger as tragedy sparks activism in a new group of survivors.

By Raymon Troncoso

Since the 2018 shooting in Parkland, prominent activists tied to the tragedy have led the conversation on gun violence in schools.

They’re survivors, friends and relatives of the victims, or just concerned citizens.

Activists on both the political left and the right have pushed for different policies, but they have the same goal: A world where students don’t have to show up to class and worry about being shot.

Andrew Pollack lost his daughter, 18-year-old Meadow Pollack, in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Pollack became one of the country’s leading activists for school safety. Allied with other MSD parents who lost children, he’s been pushing for heightened security for schools nationwide, but his biggest struggle has been in his own backyard.

“We are in the fight right now still where these parents should be grieving and moving on with their lives,” Pollack said. “We are here in a battle against these unethical politicians here in Broward.”

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, launched after the shooting, found systemic failures in school safety and countywide policies.

Security guards left gates open against school policy, allowing the shooter to enter campus, and personnel who saw him and thought he was suspicious never confronted him or called in a code red alert until it was too late.

Leniency policies for juvenile offenders meant the shooter never had a record to be flagged during a background check. This allowed him to legally purchase an AR-15 rifle despite police repeatedly being called to his house for violent incidents.

“That’s why I am out there fighting to get rid of these things. These policies in Broward,” Pollack said. “For kids and parents so they don’t have to go through something like I did.”

After being elected in November 2018, Ron Desantis appointed Pollack and his son Hunter to his transition team as part of an advisory committee on school safety. The governor has echoed Pollack’s criticism of the Broward County School District, and even removed Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel from his position for his handling of the shooting and the events leading up to it.

Pollack and his son advocate for school safety. That means metal detectors, bullet proof glass and doors, ID check points and beefed up school security.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is a member of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission on School Safety. He considers himself Pollack’s ally in the fight to buffer schools against potential shootings.

“For those of us in the state of Florida, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas event was our epiphany. It was our 9/11. It was our Pearl Harbor,” he said.

Judd doesn’t think better safety is possible without arming teachers.

“It was our 9/11. It was our Pearl Harbor”

“There is a shortage of law enforcement officers across the state and nation,” he said. “When seconds count, minutes don’t matter,” he said.

Judd has lobbied in support of the Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program, named after a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School faculty member who shielded students before being killed.

When then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed the Guardian Program into law it only allowed school personnel whose main job is outside classrooms, like a coach or security guard, to carry guns.

Judd doesn’t think better safety is possible without arming teachers.

“There is a shortage of law enforcement officers across the state and nation,” he said. “When seconds count, minutes don’t matter.”

Judd has lobbied in support of the Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program, named after a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School faculty member who shielded students before being killed.

When then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed the Guardian Program into law it only allowed school personnel whose main job is outside classrooms, like a coach or security guard, to carry guns.

School safety measures supported by Democrats in Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature have failed to make it out of committee. Republicans who control both chambers of the legislature have advanced their own bills to address the crisis from their perspective.

March for Our Lives activists like Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg traveled the country to drive up support for gun reform. Their lesser-known local counterparts are doing the same back home in Parkland.

Alyssa Fletcher is one of them.

Currently a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Fletcher was one of the main organizers for the Parkland March for Our Lives.

“All of our efforts together put on this huge march to show what we stand for, we won’t let gun violence affect us,” she said.

While hundreds of thousands gathered in D.C., the rally where the cause began in Parkland saw more than 10,000 supporters march from a local park to the site of the shooting.

The rally beforehand took a heavy stance in favor of gun control and against the NRA.

This gun-control sentiment was shared among those students and teachers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who have become activists since the shooting.

Sarah Lerner is a journalism teacher in her fifth year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and she’s recently released a book, “Parkland Speaks,” compiling the artistic works of the survivors.

“If you don’t support gun reform, if you don’t support teachers and safety… Then we’re done with you,” she said.

No matter where they stand, these activists, spurred by a common tragedy, have committed to the cause.

“I will work the rest of my life to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” said Lerner.

“We are in a battle to get rid of those policies and create a safer environment for the kids and the teachers, too,” said Pollack.

“I promised myself I would never give up the fight and I’m making sure I’m sticking to that promise,” said Fletcher.

Up next: Columbine Activism »