“Our schools are under attack,” the letter read. “The urgent and critical need to make sure our schools are secure and safe cannot be overstated.”

The requests, however, went largely unanswered — and two years later, the exact fears the leaders had laid out became reality.

The Original Warning

The April 14, 2023, letter was written just days after the devastating mass shooting at Covenant Christian School in Nashville, where six lives were lost, including those of three children. Adkins and Benz argued that the attack underscored the unique risks faced by religious and nonpublic schools across the country.

“The latest school shooting at a nonpublic Christian school in Tennessee sadly confirms what we already know – our schools are under attack,” the letter warned.

The leaders stressed that Minnesota’s 72,000 students in Catholic, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and independent schools were no less vulnerable than those in