On May 24, an armed, 18-year-old gunman opened fire on Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Twenty-one people, 19 children and two teachers, died as a result of the attack. Although this tragic incident took place nearly 1,700 miles away from Jefferson County, local schools still felt the aftershock.
A week later, Helena police arrested Logan Pallister for allegedly making threats to shoot students at Helena High School and for possibly possessing explosive devices, reinforcing the notion that events like those in Uvalde could happen anywhere.
Both Montana City and Clancy schools told The Monitor that maintaining safety and security has been a priority. “It’s just one of those things we have to keep on the forefront, see if we can improve what we’re already doing,” Montana City School Superintendent Tony Kloker told the school board during its June 7 meeting.
“We feel really confident in our security,” Clancy School District Clerk Jennifer Goehring told The Monitor, going on to explain that the recent events had sparked conversations among administration. “We were just sick about it, because every time something like that happens at another school, and you work at a school, you think, ‘oh my gosh, what would we do if that happened here and how can we make it not happen here?'” Goehring said.
At Montana City School, Kloker said the safety committee would re-evaluate its plan and “have things in place by the time the next school starts.” However, the most difficult part of implementing stronger safety is the conflict with the school’s culture, Kloker told the school board. “It’s that balance between having an open and inviting school culture, between 25-foot fences with barbed wire on the top and then an armed security guard not letting anyone in or out.”
Another difficulty the school encounters when crafting a safety plan is maintaining parent trust. Kloker explained that revealing the school’s security procedures to the public presents the opportunity for people to “find a way around [the procedures].” He went on to give a reminder to parents, “We have things in place, but we don’t want to say everything that we have in place.”
That said, Kloker informed the school board and The Monitor that the school has worked with law enforcement in the past to train staff members and create procedures.
“After the most recent shooting in Texas we had some concerned parents contact us and it was a reminder to once again dive into the specifics of our plans, work with law enforcement and make any necessary improvements to our plans/procedures, as well as provide additional training opportunities as we have done in the past,” Kloker told The Monitor in a June 22 email.
According to the Sandy Hook Promise organization, 2,023 school shootings have taken place in the United States since 1970. Nearly 950 of those shootings took place after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. Approximately 300,000 American students have been on campus during a school shooting since the 1999 Columbine High School attack, states the Sandy Hook Promise website.
