South Washington County Schools stress safety amid parent calls after school shooting

Talk about it

District 833 staff reiterated that safety is a priority after south Washington County schools received calls from concerned parents Friday following the mass shooting at a Connecticut grade school.

District 833 Communications Director Barb Brown said a number of local schools heard from parents regarding the East Coast school shooting that reportedly left 26 dead, including 20 children. The gunman and another victim also were dead.

South Washington County Schools has existing school building and office security policies in place. In addition, there is controlled access to all buildings and a number of police officers assigned to schools in the district and are available to all buildings, according to administrators.

Brown said the district has been working on an update to its security policies for about six months, but did not plan any immediate changes in light of the school shooting.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many parents had contacted local schools. The district provided information about its safety policy to parents via email and on the district website.

Additionally, Superintendent Keith Jacobus offered condolences on Twitter: “Our hearts go out to the community of Newton CT. I want you to know the safety and security of our parents is our top priority.”

Tags: updates, education, news