Letters for May 26, 2023

What campus safety can be

As a major in Gonzaga’s School of Education, the goal of this letter is to bolster the Spokane community’s awareness of campus safety and mental health in schools. My research of these issues included observing the systems that Denny Yasuhara Middle School has in place to ensure student health and safety, which I believe other school districts should emulate.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 6 youth ages 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year, but only half receive mental health services. To combat this, Yasuhara supports their students with two counselors per grade level, a mental health therapist, a mental health intern, a behavior specialist and a campus safety officer.

In 2020, Spokane Public Schools replaced all commissioned school resource officers with campus safety officers who focus on early intervention and addressing the root of students’ problems, rather than discipline. Yasuhara’s CSO strives to make personal connections with students and to be a resource for them. She takes daily walks with students who are struggling and she connects students in distress with other trusted staff members. I never witnessed any of this take away from her procedures for safety within and around campus.

Because of these reasons, I encourage former and current students to recall what campus safety and mental health looked like for them in grades K-12 and to think about how Yasuhara’s approach with CSOs may benefit the lives of students in those districts now.

Lauren Miller

Issaquah

Walkout leads to other program

I am one of the 16 volunteers who recently resigned from the Spokane Humane Society (Inlander, April 27). We did so over disagreements with the current administration and board of directors regarding our concern for the treatment of animals and the allocation of funds at SHS. We 16 and the additional 14 members of the highly effective shelter program, Dogs Playing For Life (dogsplayingforlife.com), have moved to SpokAnimal, a truly compassionate and effective animal welfare organization.

I urge donors and sponsors to contribute to SpokAnimal to best meet the needs of our community’s companion animals.

Jeffrey Sandler

Spokane