Local superintendents react to Texas shooting

Published 7:00 am Friday, May 27, 2022

WALLOWA COUNTY — An 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers Tuesday, May 24, at a Texas elementary school after he barricaded himself inside a single classroom. Law enforcement officers eventually broke into the classroom and killed the gunman, who used an AR-style rifle.

The tragic incident again shined a light on mass shootings at schools in the U.S., and had Wallowa County school superintendents reaching out to parents and children to comfort them and answer questions as best they could.

Wallowa School District Superintendent Tamera Jones called the events in Texas “tragic.” She met with staff Wednesday morning, May 25, to discuss supporting students and to reinforce procedures in place to deal with similar situations.

“We do have procedures we practice with staff on what to do in various emergencies,” she said. “We met (Wednesday) morning and talked some things through, and I passed out the new emergency procedure manual.”

Jones said she had planned to pass out the manual — which covers everything from a missing student to a chemical spill — in the fall, but moved up the plans as a result of the shootings. The shootings may have occurred in a different state, but the fear of copycat crimes is always present, she said.

Staff spent the rest of the week making sure they were present for students and listening to any concerns they may have had.

Yearly training occurs for staff in the district and includes strategizing for various emergencies. A lockdown drill also is practiced during the school year.

“How do we avoid?” Jones said of the training. “Is it safer to lock down? Is it safer to hide? Or is it safer to flee?”

Jones will email scenarios to staff members to get them thinking about how they would deal with each situation. That can include how and where they would lockdown, how they would barricade doors, and how they would manage cellphones or a student enduring a panic attack.

“The more teachers can feel comfortable making those decisions in a moment the better,” she said.

Jones is in her second year as superintendent at Wallowa, but has 21 years of administrative experience. She brought with her numerous practices to prepare for a variety of emergency situations. Staff members have a flipchart of emergency procedures to help prepare them for potentially dangerous situations.

Joseph Charter School Superintendent Lance Homan said his staff has taken part in active-shooter training “ALICE.” The program is divided into five steps:

• Alert
• Lockdown
• Inform
• Counter
• Evacuate

“We have a safe place that we walk our students to if something like that were to happen,” Homan said. “When we had a fire three years ago we used it to keep everyone safe.”

Homan said there has been an emphasis in recent years on having safety measures in place to try to prevent issues like shootings from happening. That includes visitor check-in, cameras around the entire perimeter of the school and in hallways.

Both superintendents reached out to reassure parents and communities through email or social media. Enterprise School District Superintendent Tom Crane did not return multiple calls for comment.

Although staff may feel the burden of preparing for a variety of potential emergency situations, Jones believes making them as confident as possible is important.

The district added a prevention specialist to staff this year in light of challenges students of all ages are facing as a result of the pandemic and other stressors. Jones said when children experience trauma in their lives proactive support is necessary to allow learning to occur.

“It can happen anywhere and we have to keep that in mind,” Jones said. “When something like the shootings happens it makes us realize the importance of relationships with kids and community. That has to continue to be a priority for us.”