The recent incident at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown,CT shows what can happen in the absence of security personnel working within our public schools.
Obvious and immediate reactions from all around - including myself - was to vociferously ask for a ban on the easy availability of firearms.
Obvious and immediate reactions from all around - including myself - was to vociferously ask for a ban on the easy availability of firearms.
However, asking for a ban on the easy sale and possession of fire arms would take the debate totally into a different direction and that is not the purpose of this blog.
The purpose is to arrive at a solution that is both socially and economically viable which can address the main issue that concerns all of us parents. That issue is the absence of security personnel at our public schools.
The purpose is to arrive at a solution that is both socially and economically viable which can address the main issue that concerns all of us parents. That issue is the absence of security personnel at our public schools.
Can we provide Security at Schools ?
If we were to consider hiring security personnel at the schools, the main question that we will face is the lack of funds to be able to pay for the salaries of the security personnel.
How many Security guards would be needed ?
Considering one at the school office , one patrolling the halls and one or 2 patrolling the grounds, between 3-4 armed security guards looks like a reasonable deterrent for criminal / mentally unstable elements who may have similar thoughts like the perpetrator of the Newtown incident.
Can the government help?
Given the present state of the US fiscal budget and the polarization over the education budget that we see in the congress, the education budget (which has already shrunk) is most likely to take a further hit.
With the wranglings in the Senate and House over the budget for education, the chances of the government being able to provide such funds seems to be a near impossibility.
Can we make a difference?
USA has always prided itself on independence and free will and the concept of self help is not new. Can we as parents come together to start something to help ourselves?
I believe we can, and we should.
The solution
This may sound like a overly simple solution but establishing a security fund would be the way forward. This fund needs to be supported by community contributions. Is it economically possible for the community to support such a fund ?
Yes it i
Consider that for each child in the school system, the parents contribute $20 per month ,(about the cost of a weekend pizza night ) for this security fund. In a school of 500 students, such contributions would generate $10,000 per month. In this event, annual figures would add up to $120,000.
Consider that for each child in the school system, the parents contribute $20 per month ,(about the cost of a weekend pizza night ) for this security fund. In a school of 500 students, such contributions would generate $10,000 per month. In this event, annual figures would add up to $120,000.
What can be done in 120K?
Can we pay for the required security guards within this fund of $120,000?
Let us assume we pay going by the national figures.
As per the Social Security Administration website*, for an average US household in year 2011, the annual income figures were - the average income just above $40,000 and the median income just above $25,000.
Keeping the figures above in mind let us do some math.
Taking full time employment as a way forward, and with a salary of $40K per security guard, this fund would pay for 3 full-time security guards. Going just over the median salary $25K , say with a salary of $30K per security guard, this would pay for 4 full time security guards.
Taking part time employment as the way forward (2.5 days a week per person) and with pro-rated salaries (average and median), this corpus would pay for between 6 and 8 part time security guards.
So its possible that , for a very small contribution per family we can arrange for security guards at the schools where our children go to learn and play on a daily basis.
National Level impact
Can these numbers between 3 and 8 per school make a dent in the present state of unemployment in USA?
Probably it will.
As per the statistics released by the National Center for Educational Statistics†, as of 2009-2010- there are over 98,000+ schools in USA. Multiply this number by 3 or 8 and we could generate employment for somewhere between 294,000 full time personnel at average salary of $40K or 784,000 part time security personnel at median salary of $30K.
Is this figure big enough to merit consideration?
At present, based on the numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics # in Nov 2012, 12 million americans were unemployed .
How much will the unemployment reduce ?
294 thousand out of 12 million means a reduction of 2.45 percent and 784 thousand out of 12 million means a reduction of 6.5 percent in the number of unemployed.
Even the conservative figure of 2.45 percent is a good number when we consider that its a community driven effort and there is no further increase in government expenditure and no increase in taxes.
Call to action
This is just one way that we can bring about the changes that will ensure that our children will remain safe at schools and any untoward incidents are minimized.
Let us all talk to our our elected representatives, our selectmen , our state representatives and start a discussion in the community to bring about such community driven changes.
We have only to gain from improved safety of our children and a strongly knit community that is self sustaining.
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