(TNS) - As flags were being lowered to half-staff after Wednesday’s Parkland, Florida, school shooting, school administrators here were fielding telephone calls from concerned parents.
“I’m fed up with school shootings,” said Carl Murphy, an Eastmont parent who called The Wenatchee World after talking to his child’s school principal. “I want to know why anyone can walk into a school and cause whatever harm they choose.”
Similar calls and emails from parents worried about school security in the wake of the shooting that killed 17, prompted both Wenatchee and Eastmont superintendents to post letters of assurance to community and staff members.
“We lock doors, we train and practice safety procedures and have switched from hiding during a potential shooter to flee, hide or fight, depending on the situation,” Eastmont Superintendent Garn Christensen wrote in a letter to staff Thursday afternoon.
But, he said in an interview, “It’s important to remember that even at Sandy Hook, that had one of the most secure campuses you will ever find, the shooter still managed to come into the school. The security measures didn’t seem to deter him much. He just shot through the doors.”