March 22, 2018 • The Essex Reporter • 1
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{ Thursday, March 22, 2018 }
PROM DATE
MATH TEST
PROTEST
PARKLAND LOCKDOWN SHOPPING
HOMEWORK
SOCCER PRACTICE SUMMER JOB
ARMED TEACHERS
GUN CONTROL
METAL DETECTORS
SAFETY
The fallouT Schools wrestle with safety, anxiety in wake of florida shooting By COLIN FLANDERS, MICHAELA HALNON and COURTNEY LAMDIN with additional reporting by KAYLEE SULLIVAN
P
eter Farrell had a ritual after every school shooting. It was born in 2006, after an event most people here need no reminder of: A lone gunman killed a teacher at Essex Elementary School, back when such a scenario felt rare, before so many schools became places known for all the wrong reasons. After becoming principal at Essex Elementary, he saw teachers sob after Sandy Hook from their empathy with the devastation and the reminder of that day. That was back when he’d check in immediately after the news broke. Now, it’s not so immediate. “It’s probably the way the entire country is feeling,” Farrell said. “‘Oh, another one.’ How awful is that? That we have become … somewhat numbed to the fact that this happens on a routine basis.” While local schools have avoided another incident like that, the threat of violence and its impact remains. It surfaces in the frantic texts to children during the lockdown at Essex High School. Or the concerns of returning to school after a hoax last month made EHS one of over 700 schools to see
threats in the wake of the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Dozens of interviews conducted in Colchester, Milton and Essex over the past month confirm the threat of a school shooting occupies a permanent space in the education community. Tucked between thoughts of soccer practice and an upcoming economics test is the ever-present notion that it could happen here. Days after Parkland, a dad in Milton purchased a bulletproof backpack for his 10-year-old daughter. A sophomore at Colchester High School made an emergency evacuation plan in her free time. A school board member in Essex mulled over the notion of an anonymous tip box. All this, despite the statistical reality that their school will likely never experience a massacre like in Parkland. Rational thoughts take a back seat, though, when the principal instructs students to "clear the halls" over the loudspeaker. "Every time something like that happens now, I'm scared,” said Maddie Laquerre, a CHS sophomore. “We shouldn't have to be scared going to school." See FALLOUT, page 10