Steve Kiggins: How much are safe schools worth to us?

Then it vibrated again. It had signaled me a few other times over the previous 10 or 15 minutes, too, but I was determined to keep focused on my conversation with McCarthy, executive director of the Downtown Missoula Partnership who had spent the past hour helping me learn about this gem of a city.

As we descended the stairs inside the Missoula Public Library, I finally gave in, reaching into my pocket to retrieve my iPhone.

The text on the homescreen, from my wife: “Taidyn is safe and I’m on the phone with her and will remain until the situation has ended. … Pray for them all to remain safe.”

Wait, what?

There were a couple of missed calls. And, 13 minutes before my wife’s text, my daughter had messaged me. The only words I saw in the block of text were “active shooter.”

Taidyn was safe, thank God. So, too, in the end, was everybody at Southern Utah University, which went into full lockdown after receiving “a suspicious phone call regarding the possibility of an active shooter” and logging reports of “hearing noises that sounded like shots fired,” according to its campus alert system.

After checking one building at a time, SUU sent out the all-clear at 1:10 p.m.

“We are grateful to SUU Police and the many local law enforcement agencies for their swift response and superb coordination, prioritizing safety on our campus and in our community,” SUU President Mindy Benson said in a news release.

I’ve known Benson for more 15 years, a one-time source for SUU coverage during my days as a reporter and editor in southern Utah who I’m now proud to call a friend. A Cedar City native and SUU graduate, Mindy Benson is what’s right about higher education, a dedicated and transparent leader who sincerely works to know students and who cares deeply about her community.

I was thinking about her that night, so relieved she had only to navigate a scare and not something far worse. Something that far too many school administrators, teachers, professors and other staffers have had to face in a country where school violence is too common.

It’s more than shootings, or the threat of guns. There’s cybersecurity and online harassment. Bullying and fighting. Sexual violence. Gang activity.

Missoula County Public Schools spends about $4 million annually on safety, from school resource officers to camera systems to electronic information security and more, Superintendent Micah Hill told me on Monday — some 60 hours before SUU’s lockdown.

That’s why MCPS is seeking $2.5 million through a pair of safety levies this election year in an effort to curb spending on safety from the district’s general fund, which is intended to provide dollars for students’ education — not protect them from harm.

While I don’t have a child in the local schools, I will support MCPS with my vote because I believe school safety is a community issue. Prevention is the only cure, and that’s increasingly complex without the resources to spot trouble.

There’s a spirited push for safe schools in Montana’s biggest city, too. The Billings levies, at a monthly cost of about $5 for most families, proponents say, would raise about $5 million to pay for prevention professionals like counselors and nurses, intervention and communication specialists, and tools such as camera, intercom and key card accessibility systems.

During a Zoom meeting with the all-volunteer group this month, Rocky Mountain College President Bob Wilmouth, a co-chair for Yes for Safe Schools, summed it up: “Now is the time we can make a difference.”

Helena Public Schools is also seeking financial support for safety and security on the May 7 ballot.

Before finishing her sophomore year of high school, her fourth as an online student, Taidyn approached us about returning to campus. She missed the social interaction — especially after COVID-19.

We understood, and we were supportive. But, sadly, our first thought was, “Will she be safe?”

My parents didn’t have to ask themselves that question. One day, when Taidyn has children of her own, I’d like to hope she won’t have ask it, either.

A few dollars a month seems a small price to pay for the chance at a better future.