The District 200 school board voted unanimously at its March 21 meeting to provide parents and guardians with information about gun storage and security. 

The policy states that each school year, the superintendent must provide parents and guardians with information “describing the importance of secure storage for protecting our students and community from the threat of gun violence and informing parents and guardians of their legal obligations related to protecting minors and others from unsafe gun storage.” 

Under the policy, the superintendent may decide how to disseminate that information. “Possible vehicles include the Student Handbook, annual registration materials or other appropriate annual communication,” the policy states.

The board adopted the policy after the U.S. Department of Education released recommended language on Jan. 24 that schools can use to encourage families to store guns securely. 

“Gun-related injuries and deaths are a heartbreaking public health crisis, 

and it will take action from all of us to better protect our children,” said U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in a press release. “We know that keeping guns locked and securely stored is one of the most effective tools we have for keeping kids safe and preventing senseless tragedies.”

A local chapter of the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America has been requesting this move for several months. Jenna Leving Jacobson, a representative for the group, spoke at the Sept. 21 board meeting to urge the district to distribute memos on safe gun storage each school year, according to an Oct. 24 Trapeze story. 

Leving Jacobson said the decision by the board to adopt the new policy was a step in the right direction. 

“To end this crisis not one action will suffice,” she said. “It’s a community effort, and although this policy alone is not the only action to solve the problem, if it can prevent one firearm death or injury from happening, it’s worth it.”