Guthrie Public Schools and Superintendent Dr. Mike Simpson released a statement on the events that have taken place on the threat of a school shooting.
Guthrie Superintendent Mike Simpson
On Friday December 14, 2012, some Guthrie High School students went to their building administrators and informed them of a possible threat by a current student. An investigation was immediately ensued by the school administration and the Guthrie Police Department was contacted. As a result of the ongoing investigation by the high school administration, a student was suspended Monday morning. The results of the investigation by school officials have been shared with the Guthrie Police Department.
Throughout the weekend, GPS administrators and the Guthrie Police Department were in contact regarding procedures to assure a safe environment on Monday in light of the tragic events in Newtown, CT. Guthrie Police officers have been making visits to all school sites this morning and will continue this practice throughout the week.
Guthrie Public Schools will continue to treat any threat to student safety as credible and follow up with an appropriate investigation. After school on Friday, officials were unable to determine the credibility of any threats. The decision was made at that time to increase the law enforcement presence at all sites as a precaution. Again, their presence will continue for the remainder of the week.
According to Dr. Mike Simpson, Superintendent of Schools, “We are following up on any threats and want to thank the Guthrie Police Department for their assistance. I want to assure the community that our schools are safe. With the events of last Friday, this would have been a difficult day for school under the best of circumstances. I applaud the high school students for coming forward with this information. I want to assure all parents that our number one objective is to provide a safe environment which leads to quality instruction.”
Only thing I have to say is, FIND the money, camera’s and buzzers at EVERY school. Now.
Money doesn’t just grow on trees. Guthrie has continued to vote down issue after issue to better the school system. Until that mentality changes, the same issues will be there.
Then you have the decision as to who you let in when the buzzer rings. Remember, he was a school teachers son. You wouldn’t think twice about letting him in. You’ve seen them together many a time. How would you know this time would be different?
I think not only the schools but our police officers have done one amazing job on taking care of this issue. Our officers were in and out of the schools all day and will continue for the rest of the week! And our school staff did what they had to do not to cause chaos and panic though out not only our community but our schools. You have to look at this both ways, as a parent of 2 that attend Gues I was scared for their safety yet knowing our officers were there I felt at ease and could continue my day. How do you think the staff and police felt going in today? They were probably terrified of the what if’s. I do agree we need better security measures in our schools, either parent volunteers patrolling the hallways and school grounds to security survallence outside the main entrances where you have to be buzzed in to enter the building with proper identification. Maybe even investing in security buttons in the office and classrooms like they have in all the banks, thus notifying authorities right away. We can come up with cost efficient ways to better protect our children we just have to come together as 1 in our community! I have so many ideas and to many to list here, but at least we can say we didn’t try to better protect our children from such hanus crimes. If we don’t stand up and do something about this now how is it going to be later down the road? We are the only ones to blame and we are the only ones whom can stand up for our children and to protect them! God bless each of you and thank you for protecting our community and our children.
No need to spend money on cameras and buzzers. If someone wants to hurt someone it’s going to happen regardless. You can’t stop evil!
I Understand that and your right you can’t stop evil, but these were my ideas and thoughts on this issue. If someone doesn’t speak up and throw crazy ideas out then how are we going to provide safety for our children? What do you suggest? We can’t just ignore this problem and hope it goes away because it’s only going to get worse.