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Current and former principals who experienced shootings in their schools to 鈥淒o something. Do anything鈥� to keep 鈥渙ur educators and our kids from being murdered at school.鈥�

Their plea鈥攚hich was to run as a full page ad in The Washington Post over the weekend鈥攄oes not call for specific measures such as restrictions on guns. It reads more like a cry of anguish and desperation as the nation continues to reel from the May 24 massacre that killed 19 4th graders and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

鈥淲e are members of a club that no one wants to join,鈥� they wrote. 鈥淵et, our membership keeps growing.鈥�

They call themselves the . They share a shattering experience: Gun violence that killed and injured some of their students and their staff. Some led schools we all know: Columbine and Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Others led schools where shootings didn鈥檛 fully penetrate the national consciousness.

For principals who find themselves in this devastating situation, their peers who鈥檝e experienced it can be the best place to turn to answer questions about how to go on鈥攈ow to manage the recovery of a school community.

That鈥檚 why in 2019鈥�20 years after the mass shooting at Colorado鈥檚 Columbine High School鈥攁 small group of school leaders formed the Principal Recovery Network. Convened by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the network serves as rapid-response emotional support team for school leaders who鈥檝e experienced violence in their schools.

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In January 2018, a gunman opened fire at Marshall County High School in Benton, Ky., killing two students. A year later, Principal Patricia Greer has joined a support group organized by and for principals across the U.S. whose schools also have been impacted by gun violence. 鈥淚 hope that violence in schools never has to happen again,鈥� said Greer. 鈥淏ut if it does, that鈥檚 what this group is for.鈥�

Skyler Ballard for Education Week

School Climate & Safety 20 Years After Columbine, Principals Form Network to Cope With Shootings

Denisa R. Superville, April 16, 2019

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6 min read

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Adam Davis, a spokesman for the principals鈥� group, said school leaders are busy running schools. They want elected officials to do their jobs and find a solution, he said.

In its letter which is signed by 21 current and former principals, the network writes: 鈥淭o every elected leader at every level of government, you have a duty to do everything it takes to prevent our kids and educators from being murdered in school. Time and time again, we have come to you to prevent future shootings. If you don鈥檛 act now, this will happen again.

鈥淲e beg you: Do something. Do anything. This is a bipartisan issue. Protect our students. Protect our educators. Protect our schools. Violence extends well beyond our campuses. We ask you to act and to do the right thing鈥攑rotect our communities.鈥�