Cape parents speak out on student safety

Three mothers addressed the Cape school board Jan. 25 to offer support, ask for solutions and cite the need for more communication following the Jan. 17 arrest of a Cape High student found with a loaded gun in his backpack at school.

During public comment, Jennifer Choma said she has three children in district schools, including one at the high school. The incident was unsettling to say the least, she said. 

Acknowledging she knew the board could not answer in that format, Choma said she wanted to know about next steps and a game plan that would prevent such an event from happening again. 

“We’re here to help in any way and offer support,” she said, as no one should be fearful to attend school.

Superintendent Bob Fulton said he could not get into a discussion on the matter but wanted to say he shares every parent’s concern. The district is addressing the situation and will continue to make schools as safe as possible, he said, noting the mental anguish that can accompany such an event.

Parent Beth Hoffman said she is very impressed with the district and loves her children’s schools. She said she has a child at Love Creek and a child at Cape High who was in the classroom adjacent to the room where the gun was found. 

“It is a terrifying, terrifying moment to think that my daughter could’ve been murdered in school,” she said, as tears began to fall and her voice wavered.

School is supposed to be a safe place, she said, commenting that there was no lockdown in this incident, and it could’ve been handled with more transparency. Her daughter called her first to report what happened, she said, and that was followed by a call from the district 45 minutes later.

Her daughter still had theater after school, and the JV basketball game was still played, she said. The band concert was canceled only an hour before its scheduled start, she added, and communication was lacking, although she said she knows the district can’t say anything.

Hoffman said she is an involved parent who will do whatever it takes to help the district.

“Please just keep our babies safe,” she said, breaking into tears. “Please.”

Lisa Schellenger said she has twin freshmen at Cape High, and one son is autistic. She said her children were not seriously impacted by the incident, for which she gave kudos to the staff. Some parents may want a lockdown, she said, referring to her friend Emily who just spoke, but she isn’t sure how her autistic son would react in one.

Moving forward, she said, she wants to be more proactive. Parents need to get together and present ideas on how something like this can be prevented in the future, she said.

Later in the meeting, during discussions on his recommendation for a spring referendum, Fulton said one of his concerns prompting the need for the referendum is for safety and security measures and personnel.

After last week’s event, the district team went through the entire scenario piece by piece to evaluate what can be done differently, he said, noting the high school team did the same. 

School leaders will use that information as they gather in the next couple months to determine what can be done differently and better for the rest of this year and next, he said.

“We think the best way to do that is to talk about events like what occurred,” Fulton said. 

“The worst possible scenario for any person, any parent, any administrator, teacher or superintendent is for something horrific to happen in their schools,” Fulton said. 

“I think about it every day,” he said. “Every decision we make, there’s no more important decision than the safety of our kids, so we want to continue to focus on that and keep it a priority in what we do.”