a message from Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones
On Friday of last week, evil visited Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. On Saturday, authorities put together more of the pieces of the puzzle to explain what happened inside Sandy Hook one day after a gunman opened fire and killed 20 students and 6 adults.
Since that time we have reflected on what this means for us.
One news commentator said that the day before the shooting she was at her child's elementary school. As the PTA meeting was ending, the principal said "...thank you for entrusting us with your child...our student." The commentator reflected that those words took on new meaning after the horrific events on Friday. Parents do entrust their children's lives with our teachers and school administrators every school day.
To remember the victims, our flags are at flying half-staff until Tuesday evening. We are wearing green ribbons as requested by the Newtown, Connecticut, community.
Please increase your level of observation, and let's continue to take care of one another and our students as you always have.
I have asked Jim Smith, assistant superintendent, to review our emergency operations plan for any adjustments that need to be made. We will seek best practices for providing security in our schools.
Besides having preplanning review of the emergency operations plan, we will now have at least three emergency operation drills throughout the year. In post planning, we will review our plans and drills to see if there are modifications that need to be made.
I remain convinced that the best way for deterring this type of action here in our community is for us to take care of one another. Students know more about what other students are thinking than we adults do. As we continue to increase our relationships with students and earn their trust, they will share with us their concerns. We should take their concerns seriously and act on them accordingly.
We also know there are adults who have issues and there are people in our community who know who those individuals are. They, too, will share information with us as we increase our relationships and levels of trust with them. The best way to respond is to depend more on one another, to increase our relationships and communication and to respond appropriately.
I have great confidence in you and so do the parents and community of Griffin-Spalding County Schools.
Please know your safety and the safety of our students remain at the forethought as we maintain a safe learning environment in Griffin-Spalding County Schools.
If you have any concerns or questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to let your supervisor or me know.
Thanks.
Curtis
