A Petition for Immediate School Safety Improvements Across the Bend-La Pine School District

Following the tragic events at Silver Rail Elementary School, our community has been left grieving, frightened, and searching for answers. Families are facing unimaginable uncertainty, and parents throughout the district are asking the same question: What are we going to do differently to ensure this never happens again?

As parents, we entrust our schools with the most important people in our lives every single day. We should be able to send our children to school with confidence that every reasonable measure has been taken to protect them.

The events at Silver Rail have demonstrated just how quickly an emergency can unfold. Even the fastest law enforcement response cannot guarantee that lives will be saved. When seconds matter, preventative measures and immediate access to trained personnel can make a critical difference.

We cannot continue relying solely on emergency response after a threat has already developed. We must also focus on prevention, preparedness, and the ability to respond immediately.

We, the undersigned parents, guardians, educators, and concerned community members, are formally calling on the Bend-La Pine School District Board of Directors and district leadership to take the following actions:

1. Dedicated School Resource Officers at Every School

Develop and implement a plan to place a dedicated, properly trained School Resource Officer (SRO) at every school within the district.

These officers should be specifically trained in school safety, emergency response, threat assessment, de-escalation, and working with children.

2. Comprehensive School Security Assessments

Conduct independent security assessments of every school within the district to identify potential vulnerabilities and opportunities for improvement.

These assessments should evaluate building access, emergency communication systems, lockdown procedures, and coordination with first responders.

3. Immediate Review of Emergency Response Plans

Work directly with local law enforcement and emergency responders to review and improve existing emergency response procedures.

Parents deserve to know that emergency plans have been thoroughly evaluated and that any immediate safety concerns are being addressed.

4. Establish a Parent-Led School Safety Advisory Committee

Create a committee consisting of parents, educators, district representatives, and local law enforcement to provide input on school safety policies and proposed improvements.

Parents deserve a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their children’s safety.

5. Written Commitments, Accountability, and Transparency

We request that the district provide a formal written response within 30 days addressing these proposed improvements.

This response should include:

● Specific safety measures being considered or implemented.

● Proposed timelines for improvements.

● Funding and staffing considerations.

● Opportunities for parent and community involvement.

● Regular public updates on progress.

Sensitive security information should remain confidential, but the district must be transparent about its commitments and progress.

Our Commitment as a Community

This petition is not intended to assign blame or diminish the efforts of the educators, staff members, and first responders who work tirelessly to protect our children.

It is about recognizing that we have a responsibility to learn from tragedy and take meaningful steps toward preventing future violence.

We understand that no security measure can eliminate every possible threat. However, that does not excuse inaction or prevent us from doing everything reasonably possible to make our schools safer.

We cannot allow the urgency surrounding Silver Rail to disappear as classrooms reopen and daily routines resume.

Returning to normal should not mean accepting the same vulnerabilities that existed before.

We are asking district leadership to work alongside families, educators, law enforcement, and community members to establish meaningful, measurable, and lasting improvements to school safety.

Our children deserve more than reassurances. They deserve action.

We cannot change what happened at Silver Rail, but we can determine how our community responds and what we do to protect our children moving forward.

Protect them before the sirens.

Every child. Every school. Every day.