In response to Wednesday afternoon's deadly attack at a Florida high school, Hall County School District Superintendent Will Schofield reached out to parents with a letter on Thursday, pledging to keep students as safe as possible on Hall County school campuses. [See full content of the letter highlighted below.]
Schofield spoke with AccessWDUN Thursday morning and said students, parents and teachers have had numerous questions about the incident that played out at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
"Oftentimes, in this world that we live in, there are no simple and concrete answers, but we certainly need to cultivate a climate of listening and hearing people in their concerns," Schofield said.
Schofield also said he understood the anxiety parents felt sending their children to public school after hearing and reading about the events in Parkland.
"I hear you. My wife and I sent our youngest child to school today and our hearts are broken and we're nervous," Schofield said. "By the same token, I'd tell them [parents] your district has been named among the most proactively safe districts in the nation by national organizations. While we can never guarantee that we won't have incidents, what we can do is commit to - within our abilities - to ensure that we minimize the potential for that."
Schofield pointed out that the school district has invested in safety equipment, personnel and protocol for each school. He said he hopes people understand more clearly the reasons for making access to schools more stringent.
"I suspect for a period of time now we won't receive as much criticism as we tend to get because people do not like being inconvenienced when we make them come through locked doors and when we make people sign in and when we question them when they're in our buildings, but I can assure you this, as long as I'm the superintendent, we will continue to do those things in the Hall County School District and we will try to get more vigilant," Schofield said.
Good morning,
Our thoughts and prayers are with our neighbors in Florida as they deal with the unspeakable tragedy of yesterday’s school shooting. Like me, I suspect many of you are wondering as we send our own children to school, how do we ensure our own child’s safety; what do we do or say in our world that sometimes seems to make so little sense?
I do not claim to have any counseling abilities. However, let me suggest that the adults who work in your schools will do everything possible to continue to ensure safety and provide a listening and empathetic ear to our young people and their parents. Our children have many questions and concerns, and they need to know we are listening.
Please know that your school district, YOUR school district, is here to support you and your family. We will continue to utilize resources for security cameras, locked entry doors, safety training and equipment, additional counseling resources and school resource officers. Additionally, we continue to always strive to know exactly who has access to our buildings, and why they are there. At times we are criticized for taking this so seriously: It will continue.
Finally, we have an anonymous text and/or phone “Safety Tip Line” that we encourage all of our students and community members to be aware of. When you see or hear something that does not look right, please report it immediately. Several tip line numbers and additional information may be accessed from our district webpage banner found at www.hallco.org, “School Safety.”
As a father, let me assure you we will continue to do everything within our abilities to protect our 28,000 students. Let us know how we can support you and your family.
Yours truly,
Will Schofield
