Board of Education holds closed-door meeting to address school safety in North Shore
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- Finding hope and healing through fellowship. Schools in North Shore Friday are getting a new function to help people impacted by the recent parade mass shooting.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot visited Highland Park where school leaders are calling in counselors and canines for backup.
The Board of Education held a closed-door meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday about safety and security as they look ahead to the start of school next month. The district had been working with a safety consultant before the July 4th mass shooting in the community.
Before the meeting, Several parents of children attending schools in the district spoke about their concerns -- ranging from secure door locking systems, metal detectors, and having armed security in schools.
"Especially my high schooler going into freshman year, he said, "mom, I want metal detectors in school." And that's just something that I've been a fan of for a long time," said Jenny Harjung. "I fill like after columbine, Sandy Hook, Uvalde, and many other schools I think it's something to consider at this point in time. Our little bubble here that we live in -- it burst."
"I'm not endorsing or not endorsing armed security at every school, but if we were to do something like that... you know, we also saw at Uvalde they had 60 officers in the school for an hour and fifteen minutes before anything happened. How many kids, from my experience, how many kids bled out in that classroom before someone went in there and did something," said Tom Wachtel.
Two districts started providing community counseling drop-in centers to help the community heal.
Therapy dogs were brought in at Ravinia School in Highland Park and at Oak Terrace School in Highwood as parents, students, and teachers came together as a community to heal after the mass shooting.
Children also created chalk drawings as a form of therapy at Ravinia School in Highland Park on July 7. The superintendent of Schools for North Shore School District 112 says the goal was to create safe, welcoming spaces in their schools that provide comfort before classes begin on August 24.
"We are here to provide arms, literally and figuratively of love and compassion, so that we together as a community and as a school community, can get past this mass violence incident with love, care, and compassion," said Dr. Michael Lubelfeld.
Details of the meeting will be sent in a letter to parents around 1 p.m. Thursday. On July 26th, at the regular school board meeting, there will be a safety and security presentation with an update for parents on current safety procedures and what is planned for the future.
