School Shootings Across Wisconsin and Safety in the Slinger School District

Post date: Dec 20, 2019 12:33:44 PM

By: Maria Graziano, Staff Writer

Posted December 20th, 2019

School shootings are routinely occurring across the nation and, now, Wisconsin has joined the list of states afflicted with this recent terror. Last week, within three days, eight high schools in Wisconsin were faced with more than just threats. Wisconsin Governor, Tony Evers, said in response, “... we can’t keep pretending that this only happens in other communities or in other states — it’s happening here, too.”

The 8 Scares

• On Sunday, December 1st, social media posts appeared describing a planned shooting for the next day at West Bend High Schools.
• On Monday, December 2nd, a male student at Waukesha South arrived at school in possession of a handgun. He pointed his gun at a police officer and was shot at himself. Waukesha South was put on lockdown.
• Only an hour later, Waukesha police were called again and were notified that a student may have been in possession of a gun at Waukesha North. Waukesha North was put on lockdown. The police arrived at the student’s home and did not locate a gun.
• School was called off on Tuesday in Sparta after a student and their parent’s firearm went missing.
• On Tuesday, December 3rd, another student, this time from Oshkosh West High School raised some concern after bragging about his possession of a knife. The student ultimately stabbed a police officer holding him as gunpoint. The student was also shot. Oshkosh West High School was placed on lockdown.
• Shortly after, a student at Oshkosh North made a threat via a social media post.
• Tuesday night, there was also a potential threat against Germantown High School and Kennedy Middle School in Germantown.

Safety in the Slinger School District

The following is an interview with our principal, Mr. Ourada, in regards to safety in our very own Slinger School District.

Q: What are your reactions of the recent shootings and threats across Wisconsin last week?

A: The incidents at Waukesha South and Oshkosh West were horrific. School is suppose to be a safe haven for students and staff to learn together. It is unfortunate that in our society that we have to worry about individuals bringing in weapons to harm another person.

Q: What are the safety rules in place for the Slinger School District?

A: All of our staff has been trained through ALICE by the administrators and police department and we practice these procedures with the staff every year and with the student body. The outside doors are locked during the school day and visitors may only enter through the vestibule in the office. We also have a system called "Raptor" which scans a visitors ID when they enter the building to ensure they have no criminal background before they go anywhere in our school. All classroom doors must be locked. They do not need to be closed, but locked so it is easier to just close the door if we go into lock down.

Q: Have the safety precautions in the Slinger School District changed over the past five years?

A: We instituted ALICE (Alert, Lock down, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) four years ago and all of the administrators in the district went through training for this program. We have practiced lock down situations with our staff and law enforcement to ensure that we are as prepared as possible. This training has been extremely beneficial as we have to prepare for any situation. We also attend yearly school safety conferences that are held around the area. It is important that we network with other school districts so we can all learn from each other.

Q: What are some procedures that are in place in our district that you feel are important for Slinger High School students to be aware of?

A: The most important thing students can do is report anything to an administrator that they feel uncomfortable with that they have seen or heard. We investigate every situation to ensure that everyone at SHS is safe.

Q: Will any policies be changing due to the recent shootings in Wisconsin schools? Considering they are so close to us....

A: Great question....We have been discussing all of our procedures and policies in regards to safety over the past two weeks. Unfortunately, when these terrible events happens we can all learn from it and become better in our practices. We are working with Officer Sutter and the police department reviewing what we have in place and examining what if anything we need to improve on.