Weekly Full Policy Report - 9/13

Schools should be sanctuaries, not shooting ranges.

Another day. Another magnitude of inhumanity. As we’ve said before: no one should ever be shot at school. Not a student in class. Not a teacher preparing lessons. Not a staff member walking the halls. Not lawmakers at home, agency workers in the field, or even politicians whose platforms thrive on hate.

Yet the past few weeks have been marked by bloodshed: deadly gunfire at schools in Minnesota and Colorado, bullets ripping into federal agencies like the CDC, and the killing of Charlie Kirk during an appearance at Utah Valley University.

Kirk built his career spreading racist and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, founding TPUSA to divide and harm queer and trans people, students, and educators. His politics caused real damage. But violence is not the answer— not against children, communities, or political figures, no matter how toxic their platforms.

Schools must be places of safety and learning. September 10, the day of the Kirk shooting, marked the 48th school shooting this year. Our classrooms cannot become battlegrounds for ideology or shooting ranges for the unhinged.

No one needs weapons of war in our schools or communities. We know the solutions: background checks, gun locks, and red flag laws. The data is clear—what we lack is the courage and political will to act.

We are living in a powder keg moment where intolerance, easy access to guns, and escalating violence collide. Each act of bloodshed risks fueling the next.

We say no. Enough is enough. No one should be shot at school. Ever.

We stand with students, educators, families, and communities who endure the daily trauma of gun violence. We honor their resilience and recommit to the fight for safety, justice, and change.

Now is the time for action. Lawmakers must pass meaningful gun safety laws, fund community violence prevention, and protect every student’s right to learn in peace. And we must do our part: speak out, organize, and demand schools that are sanctuaries, not shooting ranges.

No more excuses. No more silence. No more lives lost. Enough.

School Board Action

Just School recently alerted you to a harmful change in Peoria Unified School District Staff/Student Boundaries policy. Board president, Heather Rooks, has proposed changing the title to “No Grooming/Child Protection” and leaving the policy intact while providing no definitions for “grooming”. There is no explanation of how this title change makes it safer to be a PUSD student.

Six Hall Monitor advocates recently spoke out at the recent meeting to emphasize the importance of safety and reflect on how a title change doesn’t achieve the district’s safety objectives. It’s clear that some leaders are playing politics with student safety; after all, it is an election year!

You can speak out by contacting Peoria Board members with a message that student safety matters – and changing a title doesn’t equate to protecting kids. Child abuse is a real trauma and the more politically charged policies like this that become weaponized only serve abusers. Mandatory reporters of abuse, like teachers and staff, should center their training on their students and not politically charged language that does nothing to protect students. 

We’re currently taking applications for Hall Monitors to help monitor local public school governing boards. We can train you or your organization on how meaningful this work is to stemming the attacks on some of our most vulnerable youth: trans and nonbinary students. 

CIVIC LITERACY - DISCRIMINATION & HARASSMENT COMPLAINT FORM

Humanity doesn’t always send our best. We know that queer students experience discriminatory comments, harassing behavior and a spectrum of slurs at school from their peers, faculty, and administrators. Discrimination and harassing behavior are not part of growing up and have no place in our classrooms or on our playing fields.

By documenting your ongoing lived experience, government officials can no longer claim their ignorance of the problem. Bullying, harassment, and discrimination disrupt a student’s education and threaten their academic attainment and physical and mental health. Don’t be silent.

If you have been discriminated against or have experienced harassment at school, consider filing a complaint with the Civil Rights division with the Arizona Attorney General here: (https://www.azag.gov/complaints/civil-rights) 

NEWS

• We Must Not Posthumously Sanitize Charlie Kirk's Hateful Life - Erin Reed

• School board soap opera - Arizona Agenda

• A deadly shooting at Denver-area high school leaves community shaken during third week of school - CNN