Voices: As an assistant principal, I spoke up for more safety at this high school

I had a strong sense of fear while working at West High School in Salt Lake City School District.

It started as fear for student safety. It turned into fear of retaliation.

There have been hearings and public conversations about a stabbing at West High School in October 2023. But that stabbing was not the only moment I was concerned about student safety.

During each of the four fall semesters I was an assistant principal at West High, we had a significant safety concern that disrupted school. These were not “normal fights” as District Superintendent Liz Grant called them during her testimony at the Oct. 16 Rules Review and General Oversight Committee. Rather, they were serious incidents with weapons on campus and with students hospitalized.

If only the requests from my administrative team for more resources, communication and support had been heeded.

In September 2021, my boss, Principal Jared Wright, began emailing district leaders a proposal for improved security at West. Students had just returned after more than a year of distance learning during the COVID pandemic. We resent that email repeatedly, each time another district leader asked for our input. It became our inside joke: “Are you just going to update the date and version number?”

We did not ask for weapons monitors. But the district purchased, installed and put them into use in October 2023. I was grateful we also got additional human power — 10 full-time hires to welcome our students and help supervise our building.

More than the machines, the people made the real difference. Their presence allowed our School Resource Officers (SROs) to monitor the perimeter of campus.

The extra help allowed our advocates and administrators to spend time working with students rather than running around the building and trying to identify problems as if playing whack-a-mole.

Student surveys showed increased feelings of security from the human intervention. Incident data showed a significant reduction in the number of violent events.

Then, in July 2024, the contract was cut.

Grant stated in her October legislative testimony the security company contract cost $1 million annually for all four city high schools. She said the board decided against continuing it.

As an employee who witnessed four straight years of more weapons, lockdowns and students hospitalized, I wonder: Is $1 million really too expensive for student safety? Are we really OK with students, teachers and staff living with that level of fear?

In October 2024, there was a shooting in a West High parking lot. The next morning, Wright shared with our faculty what we knew about the incident and told them we would do better.

The teachers’ response surprised us: “We see what you are doing. We want to know what the district is doing.”

A large contingent of teachers banded together – communicating from one anonymous email address out of fear for retribution.

They wrote an email to the SLCSD Board.

They attended a board meeting and shared their concerns.

They held a walkout before and after school asking for district support.

They requested an in-person meeting with Grant.

The district response? I did not see district leaders at West the day after the shooting.

I heard the area director over high schools tell Wright he needed to stop teachers from walking out. (I was next to him when the call came in.)

I saw the emails from the executive director of school leadership and performance refusing the

in-person meeting and asking which teachers were leading this effort.

Ultimately, Grant and two district leaders agreed to the in-person meeting. West employees had to agree to Grant’s terms for communicating with her during that meeting.

Employees filled the school library. I left feeling defeated and unheard. District leaders lectured about how little our teachers — many of whom have worked in the building for decades — know about safety on campus.

My fears continued — of retaliation and for student safety. I left the district. Many district employees have left or tell me they are looking to leave. I feared if I didn’t find a new job, district officials would try to come for my job and license, just as they did with Wright. And as they did with several other administrators who were pushed out last fall. As Senator Brady Brammer aptly quoted during the Committee Meeting, “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.”

During the Oct. 16 legislative hearing, Committee Chairman Sen. Dan McCay said there is consideration for creating an anonymous tip line for district employees who wish to speak up without fear of retaliation. I strongly support this idea, and I expect there will be a large response.

I encourage current and former SLCSD employees to share their stories with Sen. McCay. Or send them to me. I will pass them to the committee without identifying information. If you have a story to share, please join the choir.

Sarah Thomas has been an educator in Utah schools for 13 years. She completed her Ed.D. in 2020 at the University of Utah, where she researched the power of hearing students’ stories and adapting to their needs. Thomas lives in Salt Lake City.

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