Andrew Scot Pollack is an American author, school safety activist, and entrepreneur whose daughter Meadow was killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018. Pollack is credited with helping to pass the "Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act". He has met with President Donald Trump and his cabinet, Florida governorRick Scott, and many lawmakers. Pollack is actively fighting to release more federal funding to increase school security in every school across the nation. He believes that bulletproof glass, metal detectors, enhanced door lock systems, ID checkpoints, and "school marshals" can help prevent school shootings. On September 10, 2019, Pollack released his book, Why Meadow Died: The People and Policies That Created The Parkland Shooter and Endanger America's Students, alongside education expert and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Max Eden.
Born in the New York City borough of Queens, Pollack grew up in Oceanside, New York and graduated from Oceanside High School in 1984. Pollack's grandfather was a Russian Jewish immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1933 and married a Polish immigrant seamstress. Pollack's father Arnold was a dentist, and his mother Evelyn was a secretary. Pollack has three children from his first marriage to Shara Kaplan, sons Huck and Hunter and daughter Meadow. In 1999, Pollack and his family moved from New York City to Coral Springs, Florida, to be closer to Pollack's parents who moved to Florida for their retirement years. Pollack and Kaplan divorced in 2010, and Pollack married Julie Phillips around 2014. After briefly attending Sullivan County Community College, Pollack opened a debris cleanup business with a high school friend. Pollack later moved to New York City in 1989 and started a scrap metal purchasing business. Upon moving to Florida, Pollack became a youth lacrosse coach and partnered with his neighbor to invest in real estate.
Meadow Pollack
Meadow Jade Pollack was the daughter of Andrew Pollack and Shara Kaplan. She was named after Meadow Soprano, a character on The Sopranos. A senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, she was murdered in the February 14, 2018 shooting. Meadow was shot nine times and had attempted to avoid the shooter while struggling to get into a classroom. Teachers and students were not able to open the classroom door. Her father told CBN that as the shooter returned, Meadow covered another student in an attempt to protect her. She was then shot five more times, killing her and the other student she shielded, Cara Loughran, a freshman. Meadow's death prompted her father to found Meadow's Movement, a movement fighting for increased school security to prevent future school massacres. Meadow had planned to attend Lynn University in the fall and spoke about becoming a lawyer.
Activism
On February 21, 2018, Pollack and his two sons attended a White House listening session hosted by President Donald Trump that consisted of siblings and friends of slain victims along with survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. He spoke extensively on the topic of school security, claiming that schools do not have the same level of security as airports, stadiums, and embassies. Pollack raised that the September 11 attacks happened once and that measures were put in place to prevent it from ever happening again, also stating "There should have been one school shooting, and we should have fixed it!" On April 20, 2018, Pollack launched his nonprofit organization Americans for Children's Lives and School Safety. Governor-elect of Florida Ron DeSantis, a Republican, included both Andrew and Hunter on his Transition Advisory Committee on Public Safety.
