Students question local officials at ‘Spartan Town Hall’

May 18, 2018 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com

State Sen. Eric Lesser fields questions from students regarding gun control and school safety.
Reminder Publications photo by Jordan Houston.

EAST LONGMEADOW – The East Longmeadow High School hosted a “Spartan Town Hall” on May 11 where local officials from the Town Council and School Committee as well as State Sen. Eric Lesser and State Rep. Brian Ashe joined students for a question and answer forum. Students were given the opportunity to ask official’s questions based on gun laws, adolescent mental health and school safety.

Principal of East Longmeadow High School Gina Flanagan explained that the Spartan Town Hall was developed, “as a continuation of the discussions around school safety, gun reform and mental health issues that we have been having with our students.”

“I wanted to keep the momentum going in terms of student's exercising civic action by inviting leaders from all levels to hear the voices of our students.  I also wanted our students to not only feel empowered that people care about their thoughts but also how important it is to get involved in these important dialogues,” Flanagan shared. “I called on some of our key student leaders to help me organize the event. It was so rewarding and fun for me to work directly and so closely on a project that meant so much to our students.”  

At the Town Hall, students asked specific officials questions over the course of an hour and fifteen-minute period. Officials were afforded a maximum of two minutes to answer each question. The following are edited questions and answers given by students and officials.

Question from ELHS junior, David: “In Massachusetts, residents are not authorized to own large capacity firearms that hold greater than 10 rounds. This is defined as a high-capacity magazine. In other states, high capacity can mean much more than 10. Mississippi, for example, doesn’t define or regulate high-capacity magazines. Why is there this difference and what prevents people from bringing these firearms across state lines?”

Answer from Ashe: “As you probably already know, every state, including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has their own laws. That’s what separates us from government. Depending on where you are in the Country, they have different philosophies. I know there are a lot of concerns about our gun laws in Massachusetts, some people say they’re not strict enough, some people say they’re too strict. We actually have some of the more strict gun laws in the entire country. When it comes to the difficulty, because we don’t have standard laws across the entire United States, that some have more leniency than other states, coming back and forth it makes it very difficult to regulate guns and gun use, especially with high capacity weapons. There’s a fine line in between trying to figure out what’s right, and trying to live by the Constitution. It’s not the actual thing that’s bad, it’s what people do with them and how we can control that and get a better handle on it.”

Question from ELHS sophomore Jadon: “What are your thoughts on teachers being armed at schools?”

Answer from School Committee Chair Deirdre Mailloux: “I’m not for it. We do have a great police force in town, whereas the teachers should be here educating our students. “

Additional answer from School Committee member Richard Freccero: “Let’s leave the guns to the professionals.”

Question from ELHS sophomore, Anna: “The Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts placed a ban on civilian ownership of stun guns and deemed it unconstitutional. What is your opinion on civilian ownership of stun guns?”

Answer from Ashe: “I stand by this decision, I don’t see a need to have stun guns for people to own. I think we have plenty of protections already. There’s obviously a huge debate about guns as well. I’m sure some people would use them responsibly, but I think when you have more weapons in more ways and in people’s homes, I think there are going to be more problems. “

Question from ELHS junior, Victoria: “During lock down, we’re told to hide. Why not run away?”

Answer from ELHS Resource Officer Michael Ingalls: “We want you to shelter in place because it can cause mass hysteria. If everyone is out in the halls, it could be hard to understand who the threat is.”

Question from ELHS freshman Brendon: “What was your response to the massive student movement following the Parkland shooting? How has it motivated you since?

Answer from Lesser: “I wish that we didn’t have to have this moment, I wish that we didn’t have to have a conversation, to have a high school student in America in 2018 asking whether it’s safer for her to shelter in place or to run. We need to make sure the children that died there [at Parkland] don’t die in vein. The lesson to take from all of that is, it’s going to be all of you, it’s going to be your generation that pushes for the change. No offense to anyone up on this stage, but we need to be pushed. We need the young people to step up and to lead into these issues. I’ll challenge it also by saying we need your voice on school safety, on gun control issues, on public safety, but we also need your voice on town government, on education, on civil rights, on a whole host of issues. There has not been a single movement in this country, whether civil rights movement, or women’s rights movement, the environmental movement, the women’s suffrage movement, the labor union movement that was not driven by young people. It was young people that pushed the envelope and made the change.”

Question from ELHS sophomore Ricky: "Do you believe that we should have metal detectors in school? Why or why not?"

Answer from School Committee member William Fonseca: “No, I do not think we need metal detectors in our schools. I don’t think it’s in anyone’s benefit to make schools feel like prisons. We have a buzz-in system, we have a camera system, we know who is coming into the building right now. This should be a learning environment, not a prison.”

Question from ELHS senior Katie: “The need to provide students with mental health support at school is somewhat new, but these resources require funding. How does the Town Council support the schools effort to provide the services that are needed for this?

Answer from Town Council member Kathleen Hill: “Well your question is very timely because right now at the Town Council, working with our Town Manger, we’re trying to establish a working budget for the next Fiscal Year which starts on July 1. One of the struggles is trying to meet all of the very important needs of every department the town has, including the School Department. We’re trying to find a way to fund as much as possible without over burdening the taxpayers. It’s not an easy task. As a career educator up until five years ago, I was a principal, it’s very very difficult for me to sit at the table now knowing that some requests from the School Department might not reach the point where they can be funded. It troubles me most deeply when I have to not vote in favor of something when it relates to school, because it’s extremely clear to all of us in here that we have to do a better job with providing your generation with those kind of mental health services inside the school house.”

At the close of the Spartan Town Hall, students had the opportunity to speak one-on-one regarding their concerns with the officials.

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