Private Education Adjusts after School Shootings

By Jay DeLancy, 10.11.06

The latest episode of school shootings at a one-room school house in Pennsylvania’s Amish community, reminds Americans that violence does not discriminate between public and private schools.

Max Lyons, Assistant Headmaster at Stonebridge School, a Christian school in Chesapeake, Virginia, said the recent shootings were causing private schools to review their safety procedures.

Lyons said his school made several changes after a December 1988 shooting rampage at Atlantic Shores Christian School also in Chesapeake.

That shooting was one of the nation’s first ever to happen at a private school. Before then, most of the high-profile school violence was limited to public schools.

“But after the recent shootings, we just made sure that all of our employees knew what our security measures are,” Lyons said.

Security standards are regulated by states for most public schools. But most private schools may set their own standards.

"It's a local law enforcement issue if there is a breach of security at a non-public school," said Rod Helder, head of the North Carolina state office responsible for oversight of home schools and private schools in North Carolina.

Each year, he visits some of the 660 schools that fall under his organization’s sphere. “But most of the larger schools already have voluntarily instituted security measures," Helder said.

Helder visited several schools this week and said that several are reviewing their procedures, even though state laws do no require it.

Private school administrators and parents should take necessary measures to ensure the safety of their children, Helder said.

Joe and Mary Fralix, a North Carolina couple with four children, had security concerns in mind when they decided to continue home schooling their daughter, who is in ninth grade.

“We wanted a gentler, calmer environment for her to be in rather than in public school,” Mary Fralix said, whose daughter was smaller than most other children her age.

“It was scarier in a large school,” Fralix said. “We didn’t want her where there was even a hint of violence because she would not have thrived, and I don’t just want my kids to survive in school. I want them to thrive.”

The Fralix family chose education and discipline as the first two reasons for home schooling. And the increase in school violence is another reason for them to continue.

Lyons understands that reasoning all too well as an education provider.

“We spend most of our efforts developing Christian character in our students,” he said, “but a lot of parents select our school because we will not tolerate bullying.”