This commentary is by Brian Ricca, the school superintendent in St. Johnsbury.

On Dec. 9, the parents of two sisters who survived the Oxford High School shooting in Michigan filed a federal lawsuit against the school district. At the district level, that is an expectation, and it has happened after almost every school shooting. 

Let’s pause for a moment to recognize how numb we are to school shootings since Columbine High School in 1999, even as we approach the anniversary of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In case you have forgotten, 26 people were killed, including 20 first-graders. First-graders are typically 6 to 7 years old. Our elected officials still believe our right to bear arms is more important than the right to attend school safely. But back to Oxford.

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Also named in the lawsuit were the principal, dean of students, two guidance counselors and two teachers. I have been a professional educator for 25 years. I am proud to have earned my licenses and to renew them at regular intervals. It is an honor to shift with the student-based trends in education, notably for proficiency-based learning as well as personalized learning plans. I did not study any of those in my graduate work, and still, it is a privilege to work to make these initiatives a reality for our students. 

But preparing to be named in a lawsuit, post-school shooting, might be a bridge too far. 

Consider that before the pandemic began (can you even remember what life was like prior to March 2020?), schools were already struggling under the weight of the expectations beyond the three “R’s.”

We were already having thoughtful and serious conversations about the troubling behaviors that were coming to school. After-school programs had grown to be a necessity, not something that was optional. Universal school meals were being debated, as we recognized that students coming to school hungry could not learn. Filling backpacks for the weekend was a way to ensure that students had what they needed when they left our buildings for two days. 

In addition, due to the ineptitude of our elected officials, we remained under threat of weapons being brought to school. So, we worked on active shooter drills, practiced how to barricade classrooms, and learned self-defense techniques. We learned the responses to “clear the halls,” “shelter in place,” and “secure the building.” 

The Vermont School Crisis Planning Guide is 230 pages. As an aside, we are the only country victimized regularly by school shootings. The only country. 

Now, 22 months into the pandemic, educators are berated with learning loss. Our equity issues have been exacerbated. The social-emotional needs have exploded, and I’m not just referring to our students. Teachers have been on a roller coaster, from the highs of being hailed as heroes in the early days of the emergence of this public health crisis to being questioned about whether they’re working hard enough, despite the paucity of guidance from state leaders in Vermont, and a patchwork of mitigation strategies that have led to a resurgence of this terrible virus. 

On top of all of this, teachers now are asked to accept the reality that they might be sued after a school shooting? I remember precisely what my education law professor told us on our first night of class: The only things needed to initiate a lawsuit are the filing fee and a court clerk. 

We’ve seen what might be considered frivolous lawsuits result in a change (see the warning label on your coffee), and plenty of them go nowhere. But I think that we all can agree that suing teachers is a new low in the level of tone-deafness we’ve experienced. 

Perhaps our elected officials can enact legislation that will shield teachers from litigation after school shootings. If they can’t protect us from deadly weapons being brought to school, maybe they can protect us from being sued? 

Or is that too much to ask? 

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