More than two years before the tragic shooting incident that unfolded on Wednesday at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz received a plea to address security concerns at the state’s nonpublic schools, as reported by The Daily Wire.
An April 2023 letter from Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, and Tim Benz, president of Minndependent, detailed the urgent matter. “We are writing on behalf of our respective organizations regarding the urgent and critical need in Minnesota to make sure our schools are secure and safe, considering the most recent and continuing attacks on our schools in this country and in our state,” they conveyed their concerns.
The letter was sent a month following a shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, where three students and three adults lost their lives to Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old former student.
The evidence suggests an alarming pattern. “The latest school shooting at a nonpublic Christian school in Tennessee sadly confirms what we already know: our schools are under attack. In Minnesota, nonpublic schools, particularly our Jewish and Muslim schools, have experienced increased levels of threats, all of which we must take very seriously,” warned the letter’s authors.
Adkins and Benz urged Governor Walz to allocate $50 million in the final Education Finance bill, enabling nonpublic schools to access funding for enhanced security measures. Adkins informed The Daily Wire that the request for additional security funding remained unfulfilled. He highlighted opposition from legislators and a lack of will from elected officials, despite Minnesota having an $18 billion budget surplus in the 2023-24 session.
Also Read: All Clear at University of South Carolina Following Frightening Shooter Report
On Wednesday, a violent incident at a Catholic school resulted in two children killed and at least 17 people injured. The alleged assailant, Robin Westman, a 23-year-old transgender man, subsequently took his own life, according to police reports.
While we must respect the grief of those affected by this tragedy, this raises important questions about the adequacy of security measures in nonpublic schools. The public’s right to information, especially relating to the safety of our children, is of paramount importance.