Attleboro Schools React to Conn. Tragedy

People around the world are horrified about the Friday morning mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that has killed 27 people, including 20 children and the gunman. Locals also want to know what emergency plans their schools have in place to handle or prevent on-campus violence.

Attleboro Patch reached out to school officials and received the following responses through email (go here to see the reaction from Seekonk):

Attleboro school district Assistant Superintendent David Sawyer wrote:

The School Committee just revised its policies in November to reflect changes to the state's regulations. Every school has an emergency plan that is updated regularly. The schools work closely with other city departments to ensure our preparedness for emergency situations. We join with other school districts across the country in expressing our deepest sympathies to those affected by today's unthinkable events.

Attleboro High School principal Bill Runey wrote: 

First, the hearts of the Attleboro High School Community go out to the victims and their families in this senseless tragedy. AHS is a big building, but we have many safety protocols in place. We are fortunate that we have every exterior door secured throughout the day and only approved staff members with key-scan cards can enter the building. We also have an elaborate system of video cameras which give us the ability to view virtually the entire campus along with recorded footage that we can review from campus or remotely via the accompanying software.

Officer Robert Hale, the Resource Officer assigned to the school, updates our building leadership team regularly on safety concerns. We also have two Hall Monitors who ensure that no one is in the halls without permission. Visitors only enter through one entrance where they must ring the doorbell to be buzzed in to the Principal’s Office where they sign in and receive a visitor's badge. We also have nearly 20 staff members equipped with walkie-talkies that allow us  to communicate immediately. And, this summer, each classroom was outfitted with a telephone that allows a teacher to reach the office or an outside line in an emergency.