Why ‘Abbott Elementary’ Won’t Have a School Shooting Episode Soon: Creator Quinta Brunson Explains

Quinta Brunson knows that school can be a hot topic.

Whether it's class curriculum, school safety or library books being debated, the creator of Abbott Elementary realizes teachers and support staff have a lot of challenges facing them.

But in a new interview with Glamour, Brunson explained why she isn't focused on dedicating an episode of her ABC comedy to school shootings. 

"I just think about the day-to-day in a workplace comedy and I don't think that that's the realistic day-to-day in the classroom," she said in an interview published Wednesday. "I say that knowing that school shootings happen all the time, every day or every week, unfortunately. But there are two different realities. There's the one present in the classroom where teachers are just trying to get through a lesson. And then there's the outside perspective of us engaging with teachers through the news."

According to Brunson, outsiders may view school shootings as the biggest thing happening. But when talking to friends who are teachers, the actress says it's only part of the equation. 

"They're just trying to get through this lesson. They're just trying to get the reading scores up. They're just trying to do this job," she said. "If anything, the school shooting thing is in the background, like, 'F---.' It's kind of like, 'We got to deal with that too?'"

Brunson continued, "So it's complicated and I just don't know if I want to dedicate my space to that. I don't want to open up my show to that political violence. I consider it that at this point — even the discourse of it is violent. And although I participate in it outside of my show, and I'm a huge advocate for eradicating gun violence in this country, but I don't think my show has to carry that."

Abbott Elementary was previously renewed for a third season and is expected to premiere in 2024 pending the end of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. The cast includes Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tyler James Williams and Lisa Ann Walter.