UPDATE: Answers About Security Concerns After Butler Shooting
CHARLOTTE, NC — We are getting some answers about security concerns at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools after the shooting at Butler High School.
The concerns echo across the district.
“CMS failed from every perspective,” said student Luke Drago. “The inexcusable reaction this district has had to years of warning and years of shootings around the nation is at best negligent and at worst criminal.”
Drago doesn’t even go to Butler where the deadly shooting happened, but he was so shaken, he showed up to demand more the school board at the meeting on Tuesday.
“We have no metal detectors. We have no panic buttons. Frankly, we have very little to no safety,” said Drago.
Parents were confused over where to simply pick children up after a shooting emergency. Some called CMS callous for saying classes will resume after the shooting.
Superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox says that did not mean instruction would resume. It was easier to get kids to second hour so they would know the location of each student when parents arrived.
“For those who say we were callous, I would simply say you’re wrong,” said Dr. Wilcox.
Dr. Wilcox says he knows taxpayers have already paid millions for new cameras in schools and those cameras will not keep out a gun. So, the district is reviewing expenses and working on security plans.
“We have some access control issues that we didn’t know before,” said Dr. Wilcox.
School board member Sean Strain represents the area that includes Butler. He says security isn’t the only thing that has to be considered. He says mental health is a big issue and figuring out what these children are going through at home and at school.
“Ultimately, these are decisions that are being made by our children in our community, and we’ve got to figure out how to change that,” said Strain.
We continue to ask CMS how many staff have completed active survival training that the district promised in the Summer. Still no answer. Also, no answer as to how the student got a gun into the school and if the district knew about reports of bullying leading up to the shooting.
