Dear friends,

Tomorrow marks four years since the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 

Since February 14, 2018, we – the loved ones of those who were killed in the tragedy – have banded together to do something about the violence in schools so that no other families have to experience the pain that we have had to endure. And while the pain of such indescribable loss has not subsided in these four years, we have made progress towards our goal of safer schools by working together with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle at the local, state, and national levels. 

In the past four years, we have advocated and lobbied for legislation to advance school safety by:

• Successfully advocating for SB 590 - School Safety in Florida, which became law on July 1, 2021. The law includes the establishment of a parental right to timely notification of threats at school, which was part of our Parents Need to Know initiative conceived by Board member Phil Schentrup and his wife April. They are Carmen’s parents.
• Meeting with Ambassador Rice, Representative Richmond, and others from the Biden administration to discuss our ongoing efforts to prevent mass school violence. We look forward to working together on physical school security measures, improved mental health programs, and responsible firearms ownership. 
• Creating SchoolSafety.gov in collaboration with the Trump administration. The website is a one-stop-shop for those charged with the safety of America’s schools to find information on a multitude of topics from social/emotional learning techniques to checking the security plan with the readiness assessment tool. 
• Launching an initiative called 5 Questions Every Family Should Ask to provide resources for families hoping to facilitate conversations with their schools about safety. 
• Testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs to call for more funding for school security, federal research of school threat assessments, better sharing of information between law enforcement and other agencies, and discussions of “red flag” laws.

Friends, these are just a few of the accomplishments we’ve made in order to honor our loved ones who senselessly lost their lives to mass school violence. Nothing we do will ever bring our children and spouses back to us, but we are committed to doing everything we can to protect America’s families and schools. With your support, we can keep this important work going and create a better future for our nation’s children. 

Thank you,

Stand With Parkland – The National Association of Families for Safe Schools