BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — There was more anger and tears from parents, teachers and students of Apalachee High School at the Barrow County School board meeting on Tuesday.
They’re begging for more security measures after the school shooting that left two teachers and two students dead in September.
“I never will I forget seeing the blood on floors and on the hands of my peers,” Isabel Trejo, a student at Apalachee High School said.
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Tuesday night as the Barrow County School Board met for the first time this year, they heard from some of the students who were inside Apalachee High School on September 4, including Trejo, whose teacher was killed.
“A recycling bin held over my head to protect my head and chest in case the shooter entered my open classroom door,” she recalled.
Students returned to Apalachee High School this week to changes.
The hallway where the shooting took place is still boarded up.
But instead of busing students to a second campus, Barrow County Schools erected two pods of portable classrooms.
The Barrow County Schools superintendent Dr. Dallas LeDuff said more changes could be on the way. “We are continuing our path of executing our safety timeline where we are seeking feedback from the community,” LeDuff said.
But more than four months after the death of two students and two teacher, parents, students and teachers want action now.
“We have counties seven to 12 times our size right next door that you can’t get a gun into the school they did it,” parent William Phillip said.
“There is a complete lack of empathy, concern or sense of urgency to protect our children,” parent Sean Shultz said.
“The addition of clear bags, a clear bag policy for everyone in schools and then also A.I. weapons detectors, I feel like that would immediately make us feel much safer,” Trejo said about what she wants to see happen.
Their frustration is magnified by the fact that other districts have already implemented some of the safety changes they want to see in response to the shooting at their school.
“Mainly it shows that it can be done, and it shows that it’s possible,” Trejo said.
The district said they will present that data from a safety survey during a work session later this month.
There is an open house for parents to see the new pods on Thursday.
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