Courtney Sample wants Mexico Public Schools to ensure safety on campuses. 

She spoke to the Mexico Public Schools Board of Education Sept. 16 about her views during the public comment portion of the meeting.

School board members, who didn’t respond to remarks made during public comment, discussed school safety issues later in the meeting.

Sample said she is a mother of three children, two of whom are students in the district. She also attended schools in the district and described herself as a concerned citizen. 

“In light of the most recent school shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado, I believe it’s time to discuss how each of us are doing everything in our power to ensure the safety of our children,” she said.

She said one of her children attends Hawthorne Elementary School, and she said she entered the school to have lunch with her son, a second-grader, on Sept. 15 and said she thought it was “too easy” to move about the school, as she carried a big book bag and was not questioned about the contents in the bag.

Sample said she was only asked why she was there and then given a visitor’s badge and allowed to roam the building and with the expectation to go where she said she would go.  

She said she didn’t think she’s ever had to show identification at other school functions or picking up her children. She said her intentions are not bad but said other people could do something, as she said it was easy to get access to the school and “nobody batted an eye at me.” She knows some people at the campus might know her, though.

“I’ve read our district policies surrounding the safety and well-being of our students,” she said. “I am not saying that our current policies are not good. I just know that we can do better.”

She discussed the policy regarding safety at Hawthorne and how people can enter the building, and also said she is “very concerned” about the lack of security effort that she has witnessed in the district and said she has heard about incidents regarding safety. 

“I believe that we need something that will in fact let us know that our kids, our staff, our parents and school visitors are not able to get any sort of weapon in,” she said. “I do not believe that we can put a price on our children’s life.”

She said her intent was to advise people to be a team and “do everything we can to save our children.”

Mexico Public Schools Superintendent Troy Lentz told the Ledger on Sept. 16 that he appreciated that Sample stuck around for the rest of the meeting after she spoke - some people leave meetings after they speak in public comment -  as there was a discussion about the high school renovations in the construction update and the renovations are designed for safety and security.

“I feel like that kind of dovetailed into what she was addressing and it was an opportunity, I feel like, for board members to engage the topic and I think she was able to hear them,” Lentz said. “I think there were some important conversations that took place during the construction update and I think they were enhanced by her comments earlier.”

As far as Hawthorne’s security, the school follows district safety protocols, Lentz said, and he said building secretaries do a good job of screening visitors and being a warm and welcoming presence. 

“I think our staff takes safety seriously,” Lentz said. “I think they do the best job they can with the tools that we have.”

The district has a contract with the Mexico Public Safety Department for one and a half school resource officers, Lentz said. Officers are split between the secondary schools and the elementary campuses.

“That’s what we pay for, but we get more than that,” Lentz said, noting that one officer is a half-time police officer but is working there more than half time, so Lentz thinks the district is getting two full-timers. “And also I feel like if we needed somebody, we would have a good response from Mexico Public Safety. We have an excellent level of communication with Chief (Brice) Mesko.”

Among other developments at the school board meeting, board members learned that Mexico Middle School and Hawthorne Elementary have been randomly selected to participate in NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) testing this spring. A representative sample of 50 students from each of Hawthorne’s 4th grade and MMS’s 8th grade will be tested, according to the superintendents’ report, and this assessment is similar to the MAP test, and provides data for the Nation’s Report Card. 

Assistant Superintendent Julie Lower-Welch told board members the district will not receive any data from the testing in any form that it can use, as it is just something the district will participate in.