“Both Superintendent Bowes and Principal Olesiuk should immediately be terminated, resign, or at the very least put on leave pending an investigation.” These were the words in Manhattan Beach Middle School (MBMS) parent Lara Choi’s public comment at this week’s school board meeting. “We can no longer trust these administrators with the safety, well-being, and education of our children.”
Schools are meant to be educational environments where all students feel safe to learn and flourish. They are also meant to be places where families feel comfortable and confident sending their children every day. However, student and staff safety was threatened on Wednesday, March 19, when a student brought a gun onto the MBMS campus.
What happened
Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD) Superintendent John Bowes, has been keeping parents and staff somewhat informed about the situation via email for the past several days. He revealed that a staff member overheard students conversing about a weapon, and that this was reported to the school’s administrative team.
“MBMS administrators initiated an investigation,” Bowes wrote. “Through this process, MBMS staff discovered an unloaded firearm in a student’s backpack and immediately secured the weapon.”
The Manhattan Beach Police Department (MBPD) and school resource officers searched the school and the guilty student during seventh period. After releasing a K-9 trained to detect firearms and investigating the student, they declared that the school was secure.
District Response
Bowes reassured parents that they promptly deemed the campus safe, but did not provide details as to how the situation was being addressed, and failed to disclose what consequences awaited the perpetrator and his family.
The minimal information being released has angered many members of the community, including parents and faculty at MBMS. Manhattan Beach local Sai Patil has children in seventh and eighth grade, and revealed that the district has not addressed these events with the MBMS student body. “Parents are disappointed with the school’s communication, and kids are not understanding the magnitude of the events,” Patil said.
No lockdown was put in place when a threat was identified on school grounds. No assemblies were organized to inform students upon what occurred, and how dangerous the incident had the potential to be. Patil said that between her both her son and daughter, only one of her son’s teachers even mentioned the incident.
“I asked my kids if they saw police on campus, and they did not notice any individuals that they did not recognize as school staff,” Patil said. “They were looking for a sign of safety but they did not see that. I felt they had an immature outlook on it, because it wasn’t raised in a clear and comprehensive way for them to understand.”
Community Reaction
Patil, in addition to 227 other concerned MBMS parents, are a part of a group on WhatsApp called “MBMS Parents Open Group”. Parents are using this platform as a method of communication, and are sharing information they have received from administrators, what they have heard from teachers, and what other community members have been discussing.
“I am a part of this group because we have to do something. Our kids should not go to school in fear,” Patil said. “A lot of proactive communication about uncomfortable topics such as gun safety would help prevent this in the future. We also need public shaming of those who violate these rules.”
The community also took a stance on Wednesday evening, when many MBMS teachers and staff members rallied together at the school board meeting. They asked why the situation was not handled with more care and professionalism, and why school procedures, such as lockdown drills, which are prepared for several times throughout the school year did not occur.
MBMS faculty and worried parents have been requesting a town hall meeting to address these recent issues, but continue to be dismissed by administration. This inspired them to present a united front at this week’s board meeting to make their voices heard.
“The issue is the response and the total lack of communication,” Choi said. “It’s been offensive. We have been dismissed and disregarded. The administration has created an environment where I believe this incident was enabled.”
Parent Voices: The following screenshots are a handful of the concerns voiced by MBMS parents in a Whatsapp group chat of 227 members. These photos were shared with La Vista by a parent who wishes to stay anonymous.
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