Local districts reassess after Connecticut shooting

MOSES LAKE - Parents and students probably won't notice a lot of changes at Columbia Basin schools in the wake of last Friday's shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that left 20 children and six adults dead.

Quincy superintendent Burton Dickerson said, given the realities of the modern world, schools practice intruder drills like they practice fire drills. Schools, including Quincy, have arrangements in place in the case of an intruder, and Quincy officials are reviewing them in light of the Connecticut tragedy.

"Of course, it (the shooting) will cause us to reflect on our plans," said Othello assistant superintendent Mike Villarreal. But Othello officials try to review part of those plans every month, he said.

The situation is slightly different in Moses Lake, which suffered a shooting at what was then Frontier Junior High in 1996; two students and a teacher were killed, and a third student wounded.

District officials review their intruder safeguards regularly, said district superintendent Michelle Price. But when there is a school shooting anywhere, officials start looking around the district and through policy manuals, just in case. "It all comes back and starts the process all over again," she said.

"There's a heightened awareness, if you will," Price said.

Moses Lake High School, Chief Moses Middle School and Garden Heights Elementary were locked down a few weeks ago, when there was a shooting unrelated to school on Pioneer Way. District officials had a debriefing session among themselves and with local law enforcement after the incident. "How can we improve?" Price said.

Students in some Othello schools are making condolence cards to send to Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Conn., where the shooting occurred. Some teachers were wearing green in tribute to a Sandy Hook staff member whose favorite color was green, Villarreal said.

"We are grieving with them and for them. That was us 17 years ago," Price said.

"So much emotion," she said.

Moses Lake district officials have concentrated on dealing with the ramifications locally, Price said. Dickerson said he wasn't aware of any Quincy classes working on condolence messages.

All school districts have provided parents with information about addressing the subject of a school invasion with their children. Dickerson said all kindergarten through third grade teachers talked about the subject at a Monday morning staff meeting, in case any of the children had questions.