Barrow County School System officials are planning to ramp up security and offer additional counseling services as students — except for those at Apalachee High School — return to class Tuesday.
The school district in northeast Georgia closed all schools Thursday and Friday last week as well as Monday after two Apalachee High students and two teachers were shot and killed Wednesday in a mass shooting that stunned the community and horrified the nation.
In a video on the Barrow County school district’s website, Superintendent Dallas LeDuff said security staff from the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia State Patrol would be on school campuses Tuesday. There will also be additional school counselors, LeDuff said. The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency is also setting up a Community Recovery Center at the Barrow County Leisure Services Center to offer free resources and mental health services the rest of this week. Barrow has about 15,000 students.
“We know the days ahead are going to be difficult, and that we have some staff and some students who are not ready to return to school,” LeDuff said. “We also believe as a school system that it is our responsibility to provide a safe space for those who are (ready to return).”
LeDuff said students who aren’t ready to return to school should contact their school’s principal to let them know and ask for resources if they need them. LeDuff, who spoke slowly through the four-minute video, held back tears near the conclusion of his remarks.
“I want you to know as your superintendent that there’s a lot for us to discuss as a community and a lot of decisions to make as we forge a path forward to recover from this horrific tragedy,” he said. “We won’t always agree, but I want us to give each other the benefit of the doubt that we are all bringing forward thoughts, ideas and concerns with our children at the forefront.”
LeDuff has said that the district will send a message to Apalachee students, staff and teachers separately with information about returning.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified two of the victims as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. The two teachers killed were assistant football coach Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie. The shooting at the Winder school was the deadliest school shooting in the state’s history.
Students, families and community members have taken time since the shooting to create memorials and mourn the lives lost in the shooting. Grief counselors were available at the district offices. Apalachee students are allowed to come into the school building Monday to gather their belongings, according to published reports.
Apalachee High student Colt Gray, 14, has been charged with four counts of felony murder. The teen, also accused of shooting and injuring nine others, made his first appearance in Barrow County court on Friday morning. Late Thursday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced that Gray’s father, Colin Gray, 54, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. He also had a court appearance Friday morning.
