Local politicians, school superintendents, law enforcement, an advocacy group, and high school students came together for a question and answer discussion on school safety March 1 at PBS 39’s studio.

The National Rifle Association declined to attend the forum in Bethlehem, even though they were invited, according to host and moderator Tracy Yatsko. An empty chair on the stage represented the absent pro-gun organization, Yatsko said.

Yatsko conducted the forum in a question and answer format – high schoolers asking questions and politicians, school administrators, and other panelists answering the questions. KidsPeace Psychiatric Hospital of Orefield was a sponsor of the event.

Shavon Smith, a sophomore at Louis E. Dieruff HS, Allentown, asked Bethlehem Police Department Deputy Chief Todd Repsher if there is a way students can report suspicions to authorities without being noticed by other students.

“Yes,” Repsher said. “Students can go their school resource officer.”

William Allen HS junior Edwin Chalus asked Repsher if he recommended arming teachers.

Deputy Chief Repsher said that as a former SWAT member, he did not recommend arming teachers. He said that if he had to go into a school shooter situation, having another armed person is something he or other officers would have to contend with in addition to what was going on.

State Representative Mike Schlossberg (D-132nd) said, “This whole debate about arming teachers is a distraction from addressing the real issue of enacting real gun control. Responding to a question from Georgia Sukza, a junior from Liberty HS, Schlossberg said, “Arming teachers is absolutely an atrocious idea.”

This view, however, was not shared by State Representative Gary Day (R-187th) who advocated for arming some, not all, teachers.

“There are some teachers that would come forward and say, ‘Hey, I’m ready to take on this responsibility,’” Day said. “Legislatures could have policies in place that require certain types of training.”

School districts would have to have policies in place that guide armed teachers, he said, adding that he would feel more confident having an armed teacher in a “defensive position” in a class room.

“Running into the face of battle is quite a harrowing thing,” he said.

“We need to open up our minds,” Day said. “We need to stop saying, ‘I’m with the NRA; I’m against the NRA on everything.’ We need to open up our minds and have the NRA talk to us about gun safety. Let the ACLU talk to us about mental health and involuntary commitment. Let them help us come to the conclusions we need to come to.”

William Allen junior Edwin Chalas asked Day why Congress has not been able to push through any significant legislation on gun reform.

“It’s hard for me to speak for the national Republicans, but I’ll do my best,” Day said. He said President Trump had recently made comments about gun control that “shocked” Republican congressmen. Day went on to say that Democrats “went into their foxholes and said, ‘Well, he had better not backtrack from that’ rather than help him with that issue.”

Day said the shooter in the Parkland, Florida story had been “screaming for help.” He made a case for “filling those gaps” that the shooter fell though.

Bethlehem Chapter President of the NAACP Esther Lee, speaking from the floor, said her organization is against arming teachers. She also questioned “how raising the age for purchasing guns would reduce the murder rate?”

Representative Maureen Madden (D-115th) said she has proposed central reform including closing gun show loopholes for the sale of guns.

“I’ve never taken any money from gun lobbies,” Madden said. She claimed that she is proud of the “F” grade she has from the NRA.

Whitehall senior Jerome Wah asked the panel, “What is your view on having metal detectors in all schools?”

“I don’t think it is an effective solution,” responded Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy. “It makes people feel good, but it would really not be safe. A courthouse can funnel people in through one or two entrances, but at schools, particularly high schools, unless metal detectors are used 100 percent of the time, they lose their effectiveness.”

Roy pointed out that high schools and middle schools have a huge number of events going on at all hours.

“An active shooter is going to do damage at the metal detector spot and move on,” he said. “It’s [metal detectors] a false sense of security.

Parkland School District Superintendent Richard Sniscak followed up on Roy’s point.

“We have three entrances and as many as 3,200 students,” he said, referring to Parkland HS. “It would take a long time for all those students to access through a metal detector. Besides a false sense of security, there would be many logistical problems.”

Mackenzie Kirchner, a sophomore at Parkland, asked, “How can you cope with fear of going to school every day after hearing about or living through a tragedy like school shootings?”

Beth Tomlinson, director for education at United Way of Greater Lehigh Valley, responded to Kirchner’s question. She said she advocates for school based mental health centers and full-time mental health counselors for any student facing emotional problems. She said she is working on a campaign so people feel comfortable asking for help.

Moderator Yatsko, directing her comment to Tomlinson, said, “Any time there are mass shootings, we hear talk about mental health. How is that stigma harmful to what mental health truly is?”

“Unfortunately, mental health really is stigmatized,” Tomlinson said. “There is quick jump to mental health as an excuse for mass shootings.”

“It’s important that schools provide the access to mental health services at school,” Parkland Superintendent Sniscak added. “Students are less likely to get help after they go home. We need to bridge that gap.”

Bethelhem Superintendent Roy added, “The challenge is finding the resources,” he said. “The demand for services outpaces the supply by far.”

Paige Kaczyski, a junior at East Stroudsburg HS, said, “We’ve been conditioned to walk out when hear the fire alarms. Would changing this be more catastrophic than helpful?”

Parkland’s Sniscak responded to Kaczyski.

“There have been five cases nationally where alarms have been pulled so the shooter could access more victims,” he said. “We have to be smarter than that. Now we have changed in Parkland; we’re going to make unannounced fire alarms. We are going to tell our staff to stay in place until an announcement is made.”

Representative Mike Schlossberg said he is an advocate for education and mental health, but also is for “reasonable” gun control. “No doubt about it,” Schlossberg said.

“There are broader reasons for school violence,” he said. “School safety has become a problem because we haven’t addressed the root problems.” Those problems, according to Schlossberg, include failure to take care of poverty, failure to take care of the poor, and failure to create good jobs.

“If we actually, really and truly want to address this problem, we need to put our money where our mouth is,” Schlossberg said. “And it’s as simple as that.”