KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Last year, KCKPS lost 22 students - 11 were due to gun violence and other students died from overdose or suicides.
It's the reason why the district launched its "Enough is Enough" initiative to stop what's happening and find solutions.
"This should not be the norm for young adults or students, those are courageous conversations to have to acknowledge the fear and frustration and anger," KCKPS Director of Student Services, Lisa Garcia-Stewart said. "Don't just say it's a larger city metropolitan issue, but it's happening right here. And what are we doing about it to make sure that our youth, our young adults know that we hear them, that we know that we need to do something about what's happening in the community that we own. Their level of fear and sadness and loss with them and then we're providing opportunities and resources to address that."
At the last forum, KCKPS and KCKPD highlighted resources available for students and families from substance abuse awareness to learning how to speak up, who to call and how to build relationships with community partners, such as the police department.
Thursday's virtual community forum will be different.
Attendees will hear concerns from students, updates from the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, and conversations about what changes need to happen in the community.
Anotherpowerful part of the forum will be hearing parents who lost students.
"We want other parents to have the courage to share just the value of life that person had," Garcia-Stewart said. "To not talk about it isn't okay. That, for their families for their parents, and for their peers to, to not acknowledge it, pre-pandemic or post, should never be okay for us as adults."
Garcia-Stewart talked about how critical it is to have courageous conversations and how the community can make sure if they see something, they say something, and not create a false narrative of who those students were.
Anyone can register for the community forum. It's from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Go online to register.
