Superintendent pleas with ministers over gun crisis

PANAMA CITY — Bay District Schools is pulling out all the stops as it prepares to receive students still rattled by all the news of recent shooting deaths in Bay County.

“We’re afraid the violence that’s happened over the summer will come to our schools,” said Superintendent Bill Husfelt.

Husfelt invited community leaders and organizations to an open meeting on Thursday to discuss the impact recent gun violence may have on Bay County students returning to school on Aug. 19. Husfelt used the forum to present facts and events that have shaped the reality of violence in public schools across the country.

He also made a special plea to local ministers.

“We just need you to stand up and talk to people about how important this is, because you have pipelines,” Husfelt said during his presentation.

Husfelt called on the clergy directly for their support in addressing students’ fears about violence and to provide encouragement during this critical time.

“This really is about getting the community involved in schools,” Husfelt said in an interview.

Husfelt said the district is not seeking a presence of religion in schools, but is instead asking some of the city’s most influential speakers to use their positions to move church congregations as members of the community to build a massive support network for students.

“There is no school immune to violence,” Husfelt said. “We need all hands on deck now.”

Over a dozen ministers at the meeting offered support and strategies for reaching students. In recent weeks, the clergy has been instrumental in providing grief counseling to the families and neighbors of shooting victims.

One of Husfelt’s largest concerns is how students will react to one another and the relatives of the victims in weeks to come after school starts. He said problems in schools now develop with the same speed at which students communicate over social media, making their reactions to violence much harder to manage.

“The sense of urgency is what’s driving us,” said Janice Lucas, organizer of the newly-formed LEAD Coalition. “This problem that has resulted in the deaths of young men in our community is larger than any one entity can handle.” 

The district feels the odds of containing negative reactions to violence are stacked so high against it now that the only choice is to ask all able resources to bring the most critical component of support to the table.

“It’s availability,” said pastor Braden Friday at Living Water Ministries. “The kids just need to know that someone’s going to be there.” 

Want To Go?

-Who: The LEAD Coalition

-What: Forum on response to gun violence

-When: Tuesday at 6 p.m.

-Where: A.D. Harris Learning Center, 819 E. 11^th St.