We hope all students and teachers are enjoying a relaxing, fun-filled summer break -- and that it has been a safe one as well. As kids are back home for a while longer before the school year begins, it can be helpful to double check that all firearms are stored safely and out of reach of children. We would like to remind you to visit our resources on responsible firearm storage to prevent accidents at home. It is also important to talk to your children about what they should and shouldn’t do if they see an unsecured firearm at a friend’s house. Keeping them safe can be as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Do not touch the gun.
2. Do not let your friends touch it. 
3. Go get an adult.

These three simple steps can help prevent a tragedy and keep your children, your grandchildren, and their friends safe. Gena Hoyer, a Stand with Parkland member who lost her son Luke in the Parkland school massacre, explains more about these three steps in the video below. 

Looking toward the beginning of the school year in your state, it is also a good time to brush up on the Five Questions Every Family Should Ask as the School Year Begins, which we created to be a starting point for an extended conversation families can have with school officials to ensure students’ safety. You can read about these Five Questions here. The answers you should get from your school officials are available free of charge at StandwithParkland.org. 

This month, we witnessed an incredible legislative success! On the first of July, SB 590 - School Safety became law in Florida. The law includes the establishment of a parental right to timely notification of threats at school, which we advocated for as part of our Parents Need to Know initiative conceived by Board Member Phil Schentrup and his wife April after their daughter Carmen was taken in the Parkland school massacre. 

We were proud to be part of the team that crafted this comprehensive law that addresses ways to make schools safer for all students and staff members, including requiring school safety officers to complete mental health Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) and changes to the handling of students who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Read more highlights about the law’s provisions here.

Last week, Stand with Parkland attended the annual National Association of School Resources Officers (NASRO) convention, which brings together school safety leaders from around the United States. We are proud to support NASRO’s important work training SRO’s and preparing them to deal with the challenges of working with students and staff in schools. Getting the right individuals and making sure they are properly trained for the school environment will help keep all students and teachers safe at school.

Stand with Parkland President Tony Montalto and Board Member Ryan Petty (left) met with NASRO President DJ Schoeff and former president Don Bridges (right), pictured below. 

They were also pleased to spend some time with the team from the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse to discuss school safety best practices, pictured below with Julia Treanor (left), Lindsay Burton, and Kaitlin Seale. We are thankful for the work they do to keep schoolsafety.gov up-to-date and an amazingly valuable resource to keep students and teachers safe. 

Gear up to go back to school! Order your Stand with Parkland t-shirts and tank tops today in a variety of bright colors. All proceeds go to supporting Stand with Parkland and help spread the word about our school safety mission.

With students headed back to the classroom and legislation moving on every level of government, it has never been a more important time to support the critical work of Stand with Parkland.

We have been able to make progress on the national, state, and local levels, but there is still so much work to do to keep students and staff safe at school. Please consider a donation to support our work – every dollar has a real impact on school safety in this country.

Thank you,

– Stand With Parkland