The first goal of the IISD Board of Trustees is that the district will “provide a safe, healthy, secure and orderly environment throughout the district for students, staff, parents and patrons of the Irving ISD, while also making emergency preparedness a high priority.” In support of this goal, the IISD Security & Operations Department will provide a monthly school safety tip in for parents and their children to discuss.
The community of Littleton Colorado, suffered from school-related violence recently at Deer Creek Middle School. The armed individual — a 32-year-old former student — did not arouse suspicion when he entered the school earlier in the day. Upon leaving the school around 3:05 p.m., he approached a male and female student, inquiring if they attended that school. When the students said they did attend Deer Creek, the gunman shot the students. Both students survived the attack and a teacher tackled the gunman.
The incident reminds us that violence can erupt with or without notice or provocation, and from people who look like they belong. It is imperative that community members positively engage all visitors to a school, ask and understand why the visitor is there, and sound an alarm or tell an adult when the situation does not seem right.
