Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - "I've been a school safety advocate for close to 15 years. It's something I'm passionate about."
Marc Bruno, a teacher at Riverside High School in Buffalo, says Wednesday's shooting in Minneapolis is more than heartbreaking.
"This one really hit home for me. I have an 8-year-old son who goes to a local Catholic school," said Bruno, who notes one of the two children killed in the shooting was also an 8-year-old.
A 10-year-old was also killed in Wednesday's shooting, while 17 others - 14 children and three parishioners - were injured.
Bruno feels there are many schools in the Buffalo Public School District that are negligent, when it comes to school safety.
"I have doors to the outside of my school that can be pulled open. We filed a safety grievance 1,288 days ago that is still not resolved. It took 19 months for the last superintendent to even hear that grievance," Bruno noted.
He adds so many buildings within the district are vulnerable.
"I'm hoping new superintendent Pascal Mubenga will take the issue far more seriously than our last superintendent. It shouldn't take 19 months to hear a grievance that talks about weapons coming in a building, safety issues and
doors not locking," Bruno said.
On another subject, Bruno says he thinks there is a problem with communication when it comes to alerting parents about issues at schools.
"There is definitely a culture of downplaying and potentially covering up violent acts to make things not look bad," he said.
Still, Bruno supports the state's new ban on cell phones in schools.
"We're all kind of addicted to our cell phones, so I get that parents are going to have a tough time with this. Students are also going to have a tough time with this. But if you hear first-hand accounts from teachers in districts outside of the state that already have a ban, teachers say students are talking to each other again. They're answering questions in class, they're doing their work. It's almost like night and day," Bruno said.
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