As a mother of two school-age children, and a gun violence prevention activist, I personally believe it is essential to have gun sense representation on local school boards. Andrew Taban is exactly the person to deliver that here in the Santa Clarita Valley.
He is a Moms Demand Action gun sense candidate plus is also endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety. And he is running for a seat on the William S. Hart Union High School District board, Trustee Area 2.
In America, an average of 110 people are killed by guns every single day. Firearms are the leading cause of death for American children and teens. So far, in 2022, there have been at least 113 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 41 deaths and 82 injuries, nationally. We here in Santa Clarita, of course, have experienced our own school shooting at Saugus High School. We lost two bright lives with so much potential and ended up with three young gun violence survivors. This is unacceptable.
We need school board members who advocate for gun violence prevention programs such as promoting safe gun storage to school parents, fostering safe and trusting school climates, creating evidence-based crisis assessment and prevention programs in schools, implementing expert-endorsed school security upgrades such as school entry control, and initiating trauma-informed emergency planning. We will get such an advocate on the Hart school board with Andrew Taban.
Besides advocating for common-sense gun laws, Taban also graduated from Canyon High School less than a decade ago — he, himself, has participated in the same active shooter drills as our students today. He understands how stressful and anxiety-producing these drills can be for many students. When Taban was a student at Canyon High, he diligently fought to ensure students received a quality education. Not only that, but he also recently served as an education liaison in the California State Assembly. Andrew Taban has numerous endorsements across the city, county and state — and he has mine. Please vote for him on Nov. 8 for the William S. Hart Union High School District board, Trustee Area 2.
Kat Walker
Newhall
