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No Guns in Schools

April 29, 2015

It seemed crazy to me when I first learned that “gun-free zones” really were not free of guns.

Apparently, while many school sports administrators and officials hustled to replace blank-shooting starter pistols with different kinds of devices for signaling the start of races at cross country, swimming and track events, state laws were carving out exceptions to allow other people to carry guns into those very same events.

Now there’s an effort by some to trade a ban on “open carry” in exchange for permission to carry concealed weapons onto school grounds.

We’re proud to know our colleagues at the Michigan Association of School Boards and the Michigan Association of School Administrators and the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals are all saying “No” to any such deal.

I suspect that many of those very same school board members, superintendents and principals are gun owners. But they also seem to appreciate that “gun-free” should mean what it says; that except for law enforcement personnel in the exercise of their official duties, guns have no place in our schools or at school events.

The MHSAA Model

December 30, 2015

At the conclusion of every school sports season – fall, winter and spring – I sign stacks of checks to MHSAA member schools for their hosting of or participation in MHSAA season-ending tournaments. Some are very small checks, some are very large amounts, and none is quite enough.

Each time I perform this task, I am reminded how differently school sports operates in Michigan compared to non-school sports.

Unlike most non-school organizations, the MHSAA does not require teams to pay membership dues.

Unlike most non-school organizations, the MHSAA does not require entry fees to its postseason tournaments.

Unlike most non-school organizations, we try to reimburse tournament hosts and participating teams for at least a portion of their necessary tournament expenses.

Parents may shell out hundreds and even thousands of dollars for their children to join non-school teams and to enter non-school events; but that’s not the MHSAA model.