Schools react to Rocori shooting

By Barbara Brown and Danielle Strenke
As Minnesotans learned about the student shooting last Wednesday at Rocori High School in Cold Spring, some people wondered if a similar thing could happen in their hometowns.
Before four years ago, a scenario such as the killings at Columbine High School in Colorado, seemed unthinkable, but schools are now prepared with emergency plans in case of a similar situation.
Rush City and North Branch high schools are no exception. Both have several emergency response plans in their employee and student handbooks.
Included among the procedures for tornadoes, fires or bomb threats is a response calling for a lockdown which could be used in case of a shooting in the schools.
The emergency procedures handbook for Rush City High School was designed for use by all Rush City teachers. Principal Mark Saari said it was completed in 1999, and each teacher keeps a copy in their classroom at all times.
The handbook outlines procedures to follow by teachers in all possible emergency situations, including assaults, bomb threats or intruders.
Emergencies within the schools are categorized on a coding system. For certain emergencies, Rush City High School would implement a lock-down procedure, where all students and staff are not allowed to leave the school building.
ìI have found that in the last few years every school I know of, the administrators I talk to all over the state, they do practice their lockdown response,î said Neil Fletcher, assistant principal at North Branch High School.
Fletcher said he was saddened by the news that students had been shot at a Minnesota high school. He said he recalled a shooting at a Grand Rapids area school in the mid-1960s.
However, he said the coverage in the media about school shootings and school violence make the situation look worse than it may actually be.
ìThere are 800 high schools in Minnesota, millions of kids going to high school in the United States and these kinds of things are not happening all the time,î he said.
Fletcher said the Sept. 24 shooting at Rocori High School had not rekindled talk at North Branch High about school bullying, violence or the possibility of similar acts locally.
ìWe feel like our relationships with the students are growing and forming well,î Fletcher said. ìItís important that the kids have meaningful relationships with the adults around them,î he added. ìIf we hear about something going on with the students, we talk to the students and try to address it quickly.î
Fletcher said he is confident in the relationships of the teachers with the students and the administration believes it hears about student quarrels on and off school grounds.
ìYou just have to keep making it stronger; every year work on making it stronger.î
In a phone interview last week, Saari said he had not heard any talk amongst the students about the shooting at Rocori, but he assumed it was on their minds.
ìIím sure the teachers will be talking to students about it, especially those who watch Channel One in their classes,î Saari said.
Channel One is a short news broadcast produced specifically for middle school and high schools. It airs national news stories and at times focuses on regional news, such as the Rocori shooting.
For Saari, the shooting at Rocori High School was a stark reminder that schools must be prepared.
ìIt reinforces that we have to be on top of things,î he said. ìItís unfortunate that it has to be that way.î
Saari knows that bullying and teasing happen everywhere, but hopes those who do it will see the Rocori High School shooting as an ìeye openerî to what can happen.
ìIt struck me that Rocori High School is about as midwest as you can get. It just shows that something like that can happen anywhere.î
Saari is hopeful that teachers will talk openly about the shooting with students, particularly with those who voice concern. Open communication is key to focusing on the possible tragic results of bullying and teasing, he said.
ìYou never know how itís affecting someone,î Saari said.
ìIt obviously saddens us,î Fletcher said of the Rocori shooting. ìItís just a travesty. Kids love their high school and for these kids to have to look back on their time at their high school and have these memories ... Itís just so sad.î

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