Madison Resident’s Plea For MMSD To Address School Employees Helping Teen With Gun, 2 Loaded Magazines

School staff objected to arrests of students for gun possession in school

There is a disquiet among some voters in Madison about the quality of our local public schools.  The conversations often deal with reading and math scores that are too low or why graduation rates are not higher.  Last week, a very disturbing story was reported in the Wisconsin State Journal about an arrest of a student with a gun and two loaded magazines in his backpack. School shootings are a nightmare for both the school community and the parents who send their kids off to school each morning. We expect school staff to be the guardians of reason and sound judgment.

At one Madison high school we know every school employee was not focused on school safety. That fact is simply not allowable.  Here is a quick reminder from the newspaper about what unfolded at LaFollette High School.  

Kyshawn M. Bankston, 18, was charged May 9 with possession of a firearm on school grounds and carrying a concealed weapon after being arrested at the school two days earlier. Police had been called to the school about an unrelated robbery, but while there they were informed by staff that Bankston might have a gun and were asked for help searching his backpack.

Police found a handgun, two magazines with rounds in them, a scale and an empty plastic bag that had contained marijuana, and as they moved to arrest Bankston, he lunged for the gun and had to be restrained, according to police.

It was while Bankston was being arrested that an unnamed “security assistant” at the school became “erratic and upset” at police for making the arrest, according to a screenshot of part of the police report on the incident that was shared with the Wisconsin State Journal.

“We’re supposed to protect kids here,” the security assistant reportedly told principal Mat Thompson. “This is the second time you’ve done this to [Bankston].”

Police said in the report that “the staff member was strongly implying that MPD was at fault for an adult student bringing a gun onto school grounds and resisting our attempts at arrest.”

This morning the headline in the newspaper is the further reporting of what the school board has been forecasting for months, a multi-pronged approach to fund Madison schools. The board is expected to ask taxpayers for more than $600 million this November to pay for ongoing operational expenses and for renovations to school buildings. In light of the lack of accountability by the school district regarding the ABSOLUTE necessity for ALL school employees MAKING SURE our kids are PROTECTED from the number one fear both students and parents have, that being GUN VIOLENCE at schools, comes a view from a city resident that the district place common sense ahead of pleas for more money.   (One of my readers at Caffeinated Politics sent the item below via email.)

Dear Madison School Board & Superintendent:

I was very disappointed and disturbed to read the police report about a recent arrest of an adult student who carried a gun into school.  He was also carrying paraphernalia, a bag that had contained pot and a scale, part of a MMSD exercise in computing fractions and decimals/money, no doubt.  Madison police: School staff objected to arrests of students for gun possession in school – School Information System (schoolinfosystem.org)

The news of a shooting death in Madison, an apartment building invasion by 14-23 year olds which resulted in a shooting and panicked evacuation and a targeted shooting on the East side is not surprising.  It’s what they learn in school.  The adult student will be back in school in a week no doubt, and his only penalty will be only two toppings instead of the works on the pizza  for his restorative justice party.

The two MMSD staff who tried to minimize the situation, Brittany McKinney and Zeyhearl Powell should be fired and prosecuted by the district attorney for disorderly conduct, obstruction of justice and giving a false statement to police for pretending to be guardians for the adult student.

And yet this school board will have the audacity to ask taxpayers to pony up more money for this bullshit with a referendum?  I hope at long last the taxpayers come to their senses.

Richard Soletski

I want the words of Soletski to be central to this post. So, I will conclude briefly. Both the letter writer and myself came of age decades ago. Yes, times change but common sense does not.  Young people who make awful choices need to take their share of responsibility for what happens. Everything cannot be excused or rationalized away under the heading of ‘they are kids’ or ‘their life is so tough’. Those who commit a criminal offense need to be held accountable. Educators and the entire school community obviously play a large and vital role in our society. I understand that too often classrooms resemble a day camp where the ills of society are on full display. While teachers and staff are doing so much more than teaching every day, far from what they signed up for in college, they need to do one more thing for us all. Madison teachers must demand that there be ZERO wiggle room when it comes to guns and the safety of those in school buildings and on school grounds. They must demand a non-negotiable bottom line based on the facts reported in our local newspaper. The school board may not listen, but the voters are paying attention.