EDITORIAL: Miami schools right to make student safety the priority

Oct. 5—We support the decision of the Miami School District to forgo future games and other activities at Tulsa's McLain High School. The district is being safety-minded and prudent.

On Friday night, after a Miami victory and just as teams were shaking hands, shots were fired. The initial reports were that a 17-year-old died and another 17-year-old was wounded in the shooting, but police later updated that and we learned that a 20-year-old woman and a 9-year-old girl also were shot.

Over the weekend, Miami Public Schools Superintendent Nick Highsmith wrote on a post on Facebook that "as long as I am superintendent of schools, Miami will not travel to Tulsa McLain again to participate in any school activity. I cannot allow our players, students, staff and family members to return to a place where we have repeatedly been put in danger."

We applaud Highsmith for making that decision.

By the way, this not the first shooting during a football game at McLain.

In 2016, one minor was injured in a shooting also during a football game against Tahlequah Sequoyah.

Highsmith also noted in the letter that some in his community are questioning why they play McLain, and he explained that the game is scheduled through the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, and that Miami's opponents are not chosen by Miami Public Schools.

This week, the Cleveland School District announced it will not play at McLain, either, on Friday night, and for the same reason: student, staff and family safety.

"MPS will accept any consequences that come from this decision," Highsmith also wrote.

We do not believe Miami should be penalized or suffer any consequences for this decision. Nor Cleveland.

The problem is McLain.

We encourage OSSAA to support the responsible decisions that Miami and Cleveland schools are making.