As Perry High students returned to class after shooting, some parents want more security

Perry High School students headed through the front doors of the high school Wednesday without much fanfare — just another day of classes in hallways forever changed by a school shooter who took the lives of a sixth grader and their principal nearly four weeks ago.

Their entry felt eerily normal, though there were still signs of a grieving community determined to "reclaim our school," as the school district puts it. At least one therapy dog, Skye, whom the district has hired to provide support to students and staff, entered with the students. Blue ribbons — Perry's school color — are still tied around light poles and on the victory bell near the front entrance. Red and blue cups spell out "Perry Strong" along the football field fence across from the high school, while "Bluejay Strong" flashed on the sign outside Perry Middle School.

Lluvia Vaca, a ninth grade student, said she was hesitant about coming back to school on Wednesday for the first day back since the shootings.

"It’s just nerve-wracking to be honest. I really don’t want to walk through the hallways where everything happened. No, I can’t do that. But here I am," she said before she crossed the street and walked through the front doors.

Police say Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old Perry High School student, shot and killed 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff, a student at the adjacent middle school, fatally wounded Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger and injured two other staff members and four students before taking his own life during the Jan. 4 shootings.

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Since then, the district has worked to reopen the middle and elementary schools, which it did last week, and make repairs to the high school and put new safety measures in place before the first day of classes. And Tuesday night, the high school hosted its first home sporting event since Jan. 4 — a wrestling meet that opened with a moving moment of silence involving Perry and Roland-Story wrestlers, coaches and fans.

Still, some parents say they continue to have concerns as their children return to those halls.

An online petition, which has 607 signatures as of Wednesday, asks for additional safety measures at the schools, including having only one secured entry point during school hours and installing metal detectors at that entrance, adding a temporary no-bag policy on school grounds and ensuring police presence on site during operational hours.

The security demands laid out in the petition were garnered from online community posts and from talking with two mothers whose children were injured during the shooting, said Miranda Cumming, a district parent.

“I just think it's our duty to provide the best security that we can,” Cumming said. ”And that way we can say that we did everything in our power to prevent this horrible nightmare from ever happening again.”

Mark Drahos, a parent of one high school and two elementary students, said that parents "have the right to ask more of our school. We have the right to speak up when it concerns our children’s safety.”

“I 100% support our school. I 100% support our school staff. I think they’re amazing,” he said. “That being said, I do think that there should still be preventative measures and a reaction to this put in place greater than what has been so far.”

As part of the Perry School Board's reopening plan, the schools will not let anyone inside unsupervised until 7:30 a.m. at the middle and high school buildings and 7:45 a.m. for the elementary school. Students must also exit the buildings within 15 minutes after the final bell.

Each school now has limited points of entry. And all will have increased adult and uniformed law enforcement presence and visibility for the time being.

There were no plans announced to install metal detectors or make changes to the schools' bag policies.

"The district is going to continue seeking out the expertise of law enforcement and other safety experts," board member Eddie Diaz said on Jan. 19. "After law enforcement completes their investigation, further measures may be considered."

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Drahos said he would like to see the increased law enforcement presence continue through the end of the school year.

“Right now, it’s just for the foreseeable future," he said. "I think you need to draw a hard line to put people at ease and make them comfortable because right now, I’m comfortable that there is a law enforcement presence at the schools. It’s what made me be able to sleep at night sending my kids back. But when they pull those, I’m going to have that uncomfortable feeling again. It’s just too soon.”

Drahos said he also would like the district to hire another school resource officer so there would be one at the elementary school and one at the middle/high school building. The district currently has one school resource officer who patrols all three schools and their 1,800 students.

“I would just like to be able to know that if bad things happen, there’s a trained officer on site that can intervene right away," Drahos said. "I don’t think that’s too much to ask for. Especially knowing that what we thought could never happen did happen.”

And while he isn’t asking for metal detectors to be installed, Drahos would like to see a no-bag policy put in place until the end of the school year. Butler's social media in the minutes before the shooting showed a picture of him in the school bathroom with a large bag. The shooting happened at about 7:37 a.m., before school started.

Other parents have said no safety measure is foolproof.

“I don’t care if the school, they can put everything in place, they could put metal detectors and all that, but that’s not going to keep anybody 100% safe,” Christen Durlam said. “This is going to be something that everybody is going to have to work through because what else can you do?”

Durlam's daughter is an eighth grade student at Perry Middle School. Durlam and her husband brought their daughter to an open house the day before school started on Jan. 25.

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While Durlam appreciated the additional law enforcement presence and how welcoming the staff was, her daughter was still hesitant about going back the next day.

“I thought that would kind of make my daughter feel a little bit better just because of how everyone was welcoming. But after we got home she was like ‘I can’t go back tomorrow,’” Durlam said. “She’s having a really hard time going back. She’s been not sleeping, having nightmares.”

Durlam said her daughter planned to go back to school on Monday.

The school district said 100% of the middle school teachers and 91% of middle school students were back in the classroom for their first day back. In the elementary building, 96% of teachers and 88% of students were back in the classroom for their second day back.

“I told her I want her to feel safe when she goes back,” Durlam said of her daughter. “I don’t want her to get to school and be so upset. She’s not going to learn anything if she’s that overwhelmed.”

While Durlam knows that students need to get back to school to be with their friends, she said it will take time to heal.

Making the school safer does not end at security, Cumming said. The district and community will need to address issues around bullying and helping people access mental health care services.

Cumming is also working with school officials to have a discussion about security added to a future school board agenda.

“I know there's no single strategy or even a combination of strategies that will provide a 100% guarantee,” Cumming said, “but these measures may deter threats and make them think again.”

Drahos described himself as a proponent of getting students back in school, but said "I’m also just an advocate for putting some more safety measures in place, and I’m not even an extreme one on that."

He owns the Lazy Goose Boba Tea & Ice Cream with his wife, Ivette, in Perry. The business, which is closed in the winter, popped open for a couple days after the shootings to offer free drinks for Perry students, staff, police officers and first responders. Drahos said the students he talked to had no objection to having a police officer or metal detectors added in the building.

“They said at least we would feel safe. And isn’t that kind of the most important thing?” Drahos said. “Let’s get this year and this tragedy put behind us. Let’s make these kids feel comfortable and let’s allow them to feel safe when they’re in those halls. We owe it to them.”

Des Moines Register reporter Samantha Hernandez contributed to this story.

Allison Ullmann is the editor of the Perry Chief. Reach her at aullmann@theperrychief.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: As Perry High students return after shooting, parents question security