Wednesday was the first full day back with a regular class schedule for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students, teachers and staff, three weeks after the shooting that killed 17 people, and their day started with a visit from U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
DeVos wasn't the only visitor at the Parkland school on Wednesday morning. Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade also was on school grounds to talk to students.
Thx @DwyaneWade for casually dropping by our school and causing a stampede in the cafeteria. An interesting lunch to be sure, thank you for your support! pic.twitter.com/jwOaWnm0TW
— Diego Pfeiffer #NEVERAGAIN (@firepfeiffer1) March 7, 2018
During a press conference after her visit, DeVos said she did not discuss any one specific school safety solution with students or teachers during her time at Douglas High, but said she is committed to acting to find a solution to keep schools safer.
“I think that there’s an opportunity to take some practical steps that many, many people agree on, and to continue pushing forward on things that have broad support,” DeVos said.
The secretary said she was encouraged to see the use of so many therapy dogs at Douglas High right now.
“I spoke with a small group of students that are having a particularly tough time, and when I asked them about if any of them had had opportunity to connect with the dogs, all of their faces lit up in an amazing way,” she said.
While she did not discuss the possibility of arming teachers with any students during her visit, DeVos said she did tell students who write for Douglas’ school newspaper that she would like to come back and visit again for another listening session sometime in the foreseeable future.
“It was a very, as I said, sobering and inspiring moment and visit,” she said.
