Statement from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Superintendent of Schools, Kelly Branaman, on Catholic School Safety
Washington, DC — The safety and well-being of every student entrusted to our Catholic schools remain at the very heart of our mission. As a community of faith, we are deeply mindful of the pain and loss experienced by victims of violence, and we continue to hold them and their families in prayer. At times like this, we understand the heightened anxiety of our Catholic school educators, parents and students after the tragic shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, an environment similar to our own.
In the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, school safety is always at the forefront of our principals’ and educators’ minds. We take a systemic and proactive approach to creating safe learning environments through:
• Comprehensive facility audits
• School emergency response plans
• Active shooter and crisis response training
• Safe environment training for staff and volunteers
• Investment in new school safety equipment, including security cameras and secure entry doors
• Strong partnerships with local law enforcement liaisons
We also recognize that school safety requires continued vigilance, and we are actively engaged in reviewing security protocols and exploring ways for Catholic schools to access additional resources for security measures.
Above all, we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that our schools are places of learning, faith, and hope—anchored in the knowledge that every child is a precious gift from God.
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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington includes 671,000 Catholics in 140 parishes and nine missions, with 90 Catholic schools in the District of Columbia and in the five surrounding Maryland counties of St. Mary’s, Charles, Calvert, Prince George’s and Montgomery.