I met with the mayor on June 6. I presented him with our petition, the 1000+ signatures and comments.  Mayor Finley assured me that Madison City Police will maintain vigilance and increase patrols in the Coefer Boulevard corridor during school months. Midtown Elementary will now be the School Resource Officer (SRO) headquarters for Madison City Schools and maintain a permanent SRO presence. He will also be introducing the Jefferson Parish resolution (no gun sales within 1000 feet of a school) to the council and city attorney for discussion and examining the possibilities of adapting it or a similar rule to benefit our new and existing schools. Yes, if such a thing does pass, it will mean the current store in it's location is grandfathered in, but legally, our chances of having it moved are slim. To revoke a business license, it would have to meet specific nuisance law requirements and currently none of those apply. 

A new zoning rule, increased police patrols, and a permanent SRO are the goals I walked into this meeting with. I think we can call it a success for now. I'm in contact with other activists and the Giffords Law Center to figure out next steps and hopefully get change started on a higher level.

Additionally the school superintendent sent out the following to Midtown parents today: "I wanted to update you on security upgrades at Midtown. I have spoken to both the Mayor and our City Council Liaison about the concern over an Armory location near our school. While I do not think that this location will change, our team has met with Chief Gandy and worked on enhancements for the Midtown area. Next year, our plan is for Midtown to have two security personnel full-time on campus. One of these will assist the administrations in the building and grounds area and the other will be located in the entrance building. The entrance building will be the only open vehicle access during the day and the security personnel will review all entries to the property. Second, we will be locating one of our SROs at Midtown as a home base. While all SRO staff can be pulled from a school, this will increase the SRO presence at the school on a more regular basis. Furthermore, we will add exterior cameras at the office door entry and require access to the school from an unlock  buzz-in system. This outer entrance access will be utilized at all of our campuses. Finally, we will add to all schools the Rapid Response Crisis Alert System for emergencies. Please feel free to communicate these changes to your parents and your PTA.
 
I am hopeful that the alert system and front door access equipment will be ready by the beginning of school. The Security and SRO staff should be ready by the time students return in the fall." 

Thank you to everyone who for sharing, signing, supporting, boosting the signal!!

YOU did this! WE did this TOGETHER.

I'm not going to declare victory and close out this petition, because I don't think I'm done yet. I'm going to hold our school board and city government accountable and make sure they DO what they've pledged to do. In the meantime, if anyone needs to contact me directly, the best way is through my email kashley.singleton@gmail.com or Facebook/Instagram.