Partisanship should never take priority over the safety of our students.
This past May, Sen. Kevin Cavanaugh voted against a bill that would have appropriated $10 million to harden security in our public schools. I bet Central High School administrators would have liked to have had that additional funding during their lockdown this month.
On Sept. 7, Central High School was locked down for several hours after a man was shot and killed on a nearby street. This was not the first incident of violent crime taking place near Central. Central is a downtown school located near areas of higher crime and drug use and incidents like this are not uncommon. Thankfully, no Central students were harmed and I applaud the actions of our brave police officers, but more must be done to keep our students safe.
Unfortunately, partisan politicians like Sen. Kevin Cavanaugh chose to play politics rather than work to secure our schools. On House Bill 1415, Sen. Cavanaugh voted against the additional $10 million to punish Republicans for not supporting a different bill he wanted to see passed. When I was in the Senate, we prioritized protecting children over “winning” political fights.
When politicians play games with our students’ safety, we all lose. This November, let’s send a message to Sen. Cavanaugh that we want safe schools, not partisanship.
DAVID BOUTIN
Hooksett
(The writer is a Republican candidate for N.H. Senate District 16.)