Portsmouth officials support bills on gun-free schools

Would ban concealed weapons other than those carried by police

EastBayRI.com ·

PORTSMOUTH — As it did last year, the School Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to throw its support behind state legislation that would ban anyone other than law enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms onto school grounds.

According to the R.I. Coalition Against Gun Violence, anyone with a Rhode Island concealed carry permit (CCP) can bring a firearm into a K-12 public school without the knowledge of police or school officials. 

“Forty-two states generally prohibit the carrying of concealed handguns in K-12 schools, even by concealed carry permit holders,” the Coalition states in its 2017 Fact Sheet. “Only seven other states generally allow CCP holders to carry concealed handguns in K-12 schools. Rhode Island is an outlier in its approach to guns in schools compared to the rest of the country.”

The State House bills that the Coalition hopes will get approved this year are 2017-H5354 and 2016-S0187.

“This is the fourth year we’ve put this legislation in front of the General Assembly,” Linda Finn, representing the Coalition, told the School Committee. “We feel the leadership just hasn’t wanted to put it in for a vote. We’re hopeful this year.”

She noted that last year, 25 committees, “including this one,” voted to support the legislation.

The measures also have the support of the R.I. School Superintendents Association, the R.I. Association of School Principals, the R.I. Association of School Committees, the R.I. League of Cities and Towns, as well as the R.I. Police Chiefs Association, according to the Coalition.

Locally, Police Chief Thomas Lee and school security staff support the measure as well, according to Superintendent Ana Riley.

“I think it’s a no-brainer to have no guns in our schools, so I say we pass it tonight,” said committee member John Wojichowski.

Also speaking in favor of the legislation was local resident John McDaid, who said it was important for school officials to take a stand on the issue.

“Putting guns in the hands of untrained professionals in our schools is a recipe for disaster,” he said.

The council voted unanimously to pass a resolution requesting that the General Assembly support the two gun-free schools bills “and all legislative proposals that would disallow non-law enforcement to carry concealed firearms onto school grounds.”

Graduate rate corrected

In other business Tuesday night, Ms. Riley told the committee that she’s working with the R.I. Department of Education (RIDE) to correct some numbers regarding Portsmouth High School’s graduation rate.

RIDE recently published figures indicating that only 89.4 percent of the Class of 2016 graduated from PHS, which prompted a flurry of calls to administration from parents and School Committee members. (The Class of 2015, by comparison, had a 96-percent graduation rate.)

“There was a mistake in our data,” Ms. Riley said. “We realized when the numbers came out that they didn’t make any sense.”

The 89.4 percent rate reflects 21 students from the Class of 2016 who did not graduate in four years, she said. However, the district believes the actual figure is only nine students, which would bring the graduation rate for that class up to about 94 percent, Ms. Riley said.

Committee members were pleased to hear the news, including Frederick Faerber III, who pointed out that for the first time last year, graduation rates were factored into U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings of public high schools.

“So it’s important to get the graduation rates right,” he said.

Portsmouth School Committee, guns in schools, gun-free schools