Bailey – Under heavy watch and vast community support, students and their parents returned to Platte Canyon High School today, a week after a gunman took hostages in a classroom and killed a beloved student.
The district arranged for parents and students to come to school and pick up belongings they left behind when they were forced to evacuate during the rampage.
On Tuesday night, retired school administrators took to the phones, calling the parents of each student to offer reassurance and a list of mental health opportunities available to them, said Marilyn Saltzman, a volunteer spokeswoman for Platte Canyon Schools.
Most parents and teens who returned today said it’s important to go back to school.
“A boogey man showed up like a Steven King novel,” said Sean Morgan, whose 17-year-old daughter Caitlyn attends Platte Canyon. “But you have to go back. You can’t let them win. So you go back.”
Morgan said today’s return to campus gave him a chance to thank the deputies and district for helping them when their kids were evacuated. He stopped himself from crying several times describing the pain of losing Emily Keyes and also recalling that it could have been his own daughter who was hurt.
“She was just 40 paces away from that classroom,” he said, his voice trailing off. “It’s kind of tough. We’re mountain folk, you know everybody’s kids.”
Caitlyn Morgan said while going inside was a little “creepy” she wants to go back because being with her classmates will help her get through the tragedy.
“They’ll have each other and they need each other,” said her mother, Lori Morgan.
Outside the school, several Jefferson and Park County deputies patrolled the school. In Bailey, pink ribbons and signs promoting “random acts of kindness” line U.S. Highway 285. On the front doors of most businesses in Bailey, there are numbers to call for people who feel they need help coping with the loss.
“It was great to see the students back in school today. Everything went very smoothly. Many parents came with their students,” Superintendent Jim Walpole wrote in a prepared statement. “Students and staff were happy to see each other in the school building. It was very positive. There were lots of hugs and lots of smiles.”
Students begin classes full time today.
Shelly Horstmann, who is an employee at the high school, said she found it comforting to return to campus because of the support that is there for them.
“Just to be back with the kids…that’s where we left off and where we want to be,” Horstman said.
Her 14-year-old daughter Tori, who accompanied her mother to the high school said she is anxious to go back to school even though there are horrible memories there.
“It was weird going in at first, thinking about what happened,” Tori said. “But I am looking forward to going back.”
