Local officials talk of school safety plans

In response to the mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school Friday, local schools and law enforcement took steps to provide reassurance to children and their families.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office sent deputies to most of the county elementary schools to speak with students and staff members.

“The goal was to get uniformed deputies in black and whites in the parking lots, get the deputies into the schools talking to the students and teachers and be visible and reassure everyone that we are paying attention and keeping an eye out,” said Lt. Greg Elwin.

Elwin said their presence was well-received, but because of afternoon call volumes, they were not able to get to all of the elementary schools.

“We train every year for active shooters and have been doing that for a long time, but that is a response to an incident,” he said. “What we want to do is prevent the incident; if we can do that with extra attention, extra patrol and visibility, we are already ahead.”

The Olympia, North Thurston and Tumwater school districts sent letters to parents highlighting their safety procedures and offering tips for how parents could talk with their children about the tragedy.

Special focus was given to the elementary schools.

“None of that can replace the kids lost in Connecticut or bring them back, but we can assure folks that we are aware these kinds of things can happen and we are going through the drills with the staff and students,” said Courtney Schrieve, communications director with North Thurston Public Schools.

Staffers will continue talks into the weekend to determine whether any further actions are needed next week.

“We had some requests from parents to see what our procedures are and the procedures that are in place,” said Conor Schober, interim communications director with the Olympia School District. “It’s very possible we could be sending stuff out with more details in regards to what the procedures are and how frequently we are going through the testing.”

Schober said students practice lockdown procedures quarterly.

Chelsea Krotzer: 360-754-5476 ckrotzer@theolympian.com   theolympian.com/thisjustin   @chelseakrotzer