As the school year winds down this spring, let’s not talk about test scores. Let’s talk instead about what violence does to schools.
What happens in schools after a classmate is killed? How do they function? How do teachers carry on teaching, lecturing, checking homework and having students prepare for assessments, and how do students enjoy the pleasures that extracurricular activities bring?
I am fortunate as a school administrator to not have experienced a tragedy of this magnitude in all my years. Yes, I have had students who have dealt with a myriad of challenges, including exposure to violence. But I have not suffered the heartbreak and the demoralization that the death of a child brings to an educational leader.
This spring, three students from Hyde Park Academy High School in Chicago have been killed. Two students, 15-year-old Violet Harris and 18-year-old Lania Smith, were victims of hit-and-runs on separate occasions in March. And this month, 16-year-old Eric Billups was gunned down after school while standing at a bus stop. Another classmate was wounded in that shooting.
Imagine what’s going on in the minds of the students and staff members. How can students concentrate on their studies and prepare for prom, finals and graduation? How can they enjoy just being teenagers? How do staff members tell students everything is going to be OK with a straight face? How do teachers do what they love to do, which is to teach?
What has happened at the Hyde Park high school is just a part of the story about the violence affecting our youths and schools in the United States. There have been over 30 incidents of gunfire on school grounds so far this year, resulting in 15 deaths, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that monitors gun violence. In 2025, there were at least 163 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, with 54 deaths.
The principal at the Hyde Park school, Rosette Edinburg, has done an admirable job speaking to the news media about the deaths of her students. Her strength, professionalism and keen insight are to be commended.
We can’t lose sight of the difficult challenges schools face that are subjected to these tragedies and this kind of violence. Yet what gets measured at the end of the year are test scores. The scores don’t show the number of students whose lives have been changed by a teacher and who have been inspired to carry on and not quit school after a tragedy that claimed one of their classmates and friends.
When we pass by schools, we see bricks and mortar, a flagpole and a sign. What we don’t see are the struggles and the violence that may erupt at any time because of an argument. We don’t see the relationships and the moments of success. We don’t see the staff members who prevent a student from misbehaving, fighting or quitting school altogether. Fortunately, there are school communities that are not fraught with violence and the influence of gangs. Their students are not traumatized.
We must foster an understanding of these challenges when we are tempted to size up schools based solely on test scores and empirical data. While these metrics are important and help guide instruction, planning and the acquisition of the resources our future generations need to prepare for life, they don’t tell the entire story.
Let’s wrap our arms around Hyde Park Academy High School and other schools in our nation affected by violence. The hearts and minds of their students and staff members are heavy. During times of struggle and anguish, I often read quotes from the late, great Maya Angelou for comfort and wisdom. She once said, “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
It is this message that we must impart to our youth to encourage them to carry on.
Jerald McNair is a school administrator in South Holland School District 151. McNair has a doctorate degree in education and a graduate degree in public policy.
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