SCOTTSDALE, AZ — After a gun was found in her son’s classroom, a mother and teacher at Mountainside Middle School is calling on local and state education leaders to implement more conflict-resolution curricula in the classroom.
Last week, police arrested an 11-year-old boy after a loaded gun was found in a Mountainside Middle School classroom.
Juliet Serrato, who is a teacher at the school, said her son was in that same class.
“He said, ‘Mom, I’m scared.’ At that moment, I lost it,” Serrato said. “That’s a week ago today and I’m still having anxiety dreams over it.”
Serrato says this is the final straw in a string of safety concerns impacting her children at school.
“My sons were attacked in unprovoked assaults,” Serrato said.
It’s not just Scottsdale. Violent attacks involving teens are impacting families across the Valley.
Because of the disturbing trend, Serrato wants to see more school districts in Arizona teach social and emotional skills.
She recommends Arizona join more than two dozen other states in implementing K-12 curriculum from the Collaborative for Social Emotional Learning.
“It’s about personal responsibility, social awareness, self-awareness,” Serrato said. “We don’t need the incident next time to become a tragedy.”
State Superintendent of Education, Tom Horne, has been openly hesitant about social-emotional curriculum.
He released a statement to ABC15 on Thursday:
“I am not categorically opposed to all social emotional learning, but under my predecessor it was out-of-control and detracted too much from academics. It was also sometimes used as a Trojan horse for CRT. In order to increase school safety, I have promoted School Resource Officers and have almost doubled the number of them in Arizona schools. I also advocate for more student discipline such as suspension and expulsion to decrease student misbehavior. Discipline has to be serious enough to get the parents' attention because they can get their children’s attention.”
Scottsdale Unified schools have social workers and all middle and high schools have school resource officers.
“I am so grateful for our Resource Officer,” Serrato said. “He rushed into that classroom. He kept my kid safe. “Extra security can help. Clear backpacks, metal detectors, those are band-aids for a systemic problem.”
Scottsdale Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Scott Menzel released a statement in response to Serrato’s concerns saying:
“Scottsdale Unified School District welcomes and appreciates suggestions from our students, staff, and parents as we continually work to ensure that our schools are safe and nurturing learning environments where each student can thrive. In partnership with the Scottsdale Police Department, we continue to evaluate ways to enhance the safety and security of our school campuses.
The incident last Thursday at Mountainside was a poignant reminder that we must be vigilant with our parents, students, and staff in this shared responsibility. In this era of social media, excessive online engagement, mimicking bad behavior, and chasing “Likes,” we must be committed to ensuring that the needs of the whole child are being met. Working together is key.”
