[B]URLINGTON — The Burlington School Board unanimously passed a resolution Monday, urging Vermont House and Senate members to approve tougher gun control measures.
The board’s action comes in the wake of the arrest of a Vermont teenager, Jack Sawyer, who allegedly planned a school shooting in Fair Haven, shortly after the latest school shooting in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14 in which 17 students and teachers were killed. Closer to home, a man shot into a crowd outside the popular Burlington watering hole Nectar’s on Monday, seriously wounding a woman.
The Sawyer case has spurred renewed interest in gun legislation and has become a top priority for many of the leaders at the Statehouse.
Gov. Phil Scott has said the allegations outlined in a police affidavit against Sawyer “jolted,” him, prompting a shift in his own stance on gun legislation. The governor has said everything is now “on the table.”
The board implores lawmakers to act immediately “to keep our children alive” and swiftly pass legislation preventing possession, sale or manufacture of military-style assault weapons.
“All Vermont students have the right to attend school and live in a community free from fear of death or injury as a result of gun-related violence,” the board wrote in the resolution.
Acting Board Chairman Stephanie Seguino said she hopes the resolution spurs lawmakers to action. “Our city’s children, parents, and teachers deserve to attend school and live in a community free from the fear of death or injury as a result of gun-related violence,” she said.
Safety protocols such as active-shooter and lock-down drills are necessary, educators say, but take away time from classroom instruction and “critical learning.”
The special meeting took place at the Ira Allen central office building. Because the brief gathering took place during a school vacation, most board members voted by telephone. Seguino and school board member Mark Porter attended the meeting along with Superintendent Yaw Obeng.
“As someone who has experienced gun violence in schools as both a student and an administrator, I know the toll that these events can take on everyone involved,” Obeng said. “I am grateful that the board has decided to step up and use their platform and voice to support safer schools.”
The Legislature is considering several gun control measures, including universal background checks for private gun sales and the removal of guns from domestic violence crime scenes.
