Friday, Jan. 25, 2019
MEDIA ADVISORY: San Diego Unified + San Diego Press Club present: January ED Talks
WHAT: San Diego journalists are invited to participate in a special installment of ED Talks, a casual forum hosted by the San Diego Unified School District in collaboration with the San Diego Press Club. The goal is to foster open and robust conversations about public education.
The January forum will be devoted to school security and gun safety, and will be held on Monday, Jan. 28, the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Grover Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego Unified.
Professional journalists will have an opportunity to ask questions and participate in a conversation about various safety issues that schools are confronting locally and nationwide.
WHEN: Monday, Jan. 28, 2019 4 p.m.
WHERE: East entrance of San Diego Unified offices outside the district’s Cleveland memorial, 4100 Normal St., San Diego, (92103)
Background: Forty years after the first school shooting in city history, San Diego Unified is remembering the victims and engaging the community in an effort to end gun violence. San Diego Unified principal Burton Wragg and custodian Mike Suchar were killed in the shooting outside Cleveland Elementary School on January 29, 1979.
“Principal Wragg and Mike Suchar lost their lives trying to save children from the first school shooter in San Diego history. Forty years later, we have to ask ourselves -- as a city -- whether we are doing everything we can possibly do to protect young people today,” said School Board Member Kevin Beiser. “The issue of gun violence is too big for schools to solve on our own, but schools are the right place for the conversation to start.”
San Diego Unified leaders will outline on Monday some of the steps schools are taking to protect students from gun violence. Those measures include increased campus security through fencing, cameras and other safeguards. They also include an initiative for students and parents to take steps to protect themselves by reporting suspicious activity, storing legal firearms safely, and taking legal action to get guns out of the hands of those who are a threat to themselves or others. San Diego students are also driving the conversation around school shootings, engaging with outside advocates and holding a special session of the student equity ambassadors.
Firearm deaths are now the third leading cause of death among children, and over 80% of teen suicides involve a firearm from the home.
This event is for professional journalists. Please confirm attendance in advance by replying to this email or by calling 619-725-5578.
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