Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says her agency is looking into an Obama-era agreement, inked between the Administration and Broward County law enforcement officials, that may have prevented police from getting involved in the Parkland, Florida shooter’s life well before he considered committing mass murder.
The PROMISE agreement was designed with good intentions: it enabled schools to handle incidents, including bullying, assault, drug use, and other misdemeanor violations of the law within the institution, rather than referring students to law enforcement and entangling them in the criminal justice system at a young age.
The program “ceased school-based arrests,” the Daily Caller reports, and “reduce[d] exclusionary disciplinary practices while implementing prevention and intervention programs for children and youth who are neglected, delinquent or at-risk.”
But in the case of the Parkland shooter, the program may have worked too well. Faced with a student who routinely engaged in violent behavior toward other students, admitted to owning weapons, and shared violent fantasies with school psychologists — none of which are considered “serious” issues under the law — teachers and administrators couldn’t call in the Broward County Sheriff for help.
Instead, the school tried to handle the shooter by sending him to an alternative facility for hard-to-handle students and then expelling him, which may have only increased his motivation to commit a violent act.
DeVos told “60 Minutes” that “We’re studying [the policy] carefully. And are committed to making sure students have the opportunity to learn in safe and nurturing environments,” but that to have a safe environment, the rule might need exceptions or reformatting.
“It does come down to individual kids. And — often comes down to — I am committed to making sure that students have the opportunity to learn in an environment that is conducive to their learning,” she added.