'Trying to process the horror': How local schools have responded to the Texas shooting

FALL RIVER — In the hours after a gunman killed 21 people, mostly young children, at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday afternoon, local school leadership and law enforcement began to plan for school the next day.

"As I watched our middle school students and teachers perform beautifully at the Spring Band concert this evening, I have to admit that I was profoundly distracted," Superintendent of Westport Community Schools Thomas Aubin wrote in a letter to the school community on Tuesday night. "Distracted by the thoughts that come with trying to process the horror of what took place today at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two adults died as a result of a senseless act of gun violence."

On Tuesday, Salvador Ramos, 18, entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and committed the deadliest shooting at a U.S. grade school since the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. before being killed by a Border Patrol agent.

Increased police presence at local schools

Many area schools saw an increased police presence on Wednesday, including Taunton, Somerset, Somerset Berkley Regional High School, Dighton and Rehoboth schools.

"We are sickened and saddened at what occurred in Texas today and want all students and staff to know that we are there for them always,” the Dighton Police Department wrote on Facebook.

Police departments in places like Somerset noted that their presence was to reassure students and staff, "not in response to any identified threat."

Fall River Public Schools did not increase their police presence in response to the shooting, with officials saying schools already have strong security measures in place on a daily basis.

“We cover all of our schools with both security guards and resource officers. We have strict entrance and exit protocol in all our schools,” said Mayor Paul Coogan.

Newly appointed Fall River Police Chief Paul Gauvin did say families could expect school resource officers to have a higher profile in school buildings in the coming days.

“We’ve never pared down our presence in the schools, but whenever you have an incident like this you have a little more visibility from our SROs so parents know we are there,” he said. “But also, at a time like this, we reach out to our patrol officers who have schools in their sectors.”

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Security plans already in place

In light of Tuesday’s shooting, school leadership in several districts stressed to community members that security plans to help prevent a potential attack are already in place.

Several school districts, including Somerset and Somerset Berkley, Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School and Westport Community Schools said they are already in the practice of running ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) school shooter drills during the school year.

Superintendent of Somerset Public Schools Jeffrey Schoonover in a letter emailed to families on Wednesday morning that the schools and police have worked together to come up with a proactive safety plan.

"We work very closely with the Somerset Police Department and Somerset Fire Department conducting various safety drills during the school year to ensure that students and staff know how to respond in the event of an incident or emergency," he said, noting that they have "clear plans and procedures to deal with emergency situations," and that they review those plans annually.

"The Swansea Police Department and the School Department regularly assess and review the safety plans in place for all schools. We pray we will never have to put these plans into action but are confident in our ability to protect our children," the Swansea Police Department wrote on Facebook.

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Andrew Rebello, principal at Diman, said in an email on Wednesday that the school launched a “threat assessment team” this year made up of teachers, administrators, security staff and members of the Fall River Police Department that meets “weekly or after any local or national event” to discuss safety measures at the school.

“This Team met to review our safety plans and ensure our building is secure after yesterday’s event,” he said.

Along with other measures, Diman has an online, anonymous tip line where students can report potential safety concerns. And, Rebello said, the school plans to work with Fall River police “to establish periodic building reviews to ensure our building is secure (checking doors, checking entries, etc.).”

Aubin stressed in his letter sent on Tuesday the role family and friends can play in spotting dangerous behaviors before they become threats. Perpetrators of violence like Tuesday’s shooting often post about their plans ahead of time on social media, he said.

“Consequently, the statement 'If you see something, say something' has never been more prescient,” he wrote.

'Unfathomable that we’re still having this conversation.”

Speaking to the Herald News, Aubin called for what he described as “common sense” gun laws to decrease the risk of school shootings.

“When Sandy Hook took place 10 years ago and meaningful legislation was not put in place, I became very cynical,” he said. “I fail to believe that we can’t uphold the Second Amendment and still keep our students safe.”

Matt Desmarais, principal at B.M.C. Durfee High School, also expressed frustration at the prevalence of school shootings. The U.S. is the only country where school shootings are such a pervasive problem, he pointed out.

“It’s really unfathomable that we’re still having this conversation,” he said. “School is supposed to be a sanctuary.”

Audrey Cooney can be reached at acooney@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall RIver, Somerset, Westport schools respond to Texas shooting