Bailey – With deputies watching over them and the community behind them, students and their parents returned to Platte Canyon High School on Wednesday, a week after a gunman took hostages in a classroom and killed a student.
The district arranged for people to come to school and pick up belongings they left behind when they were forced to evacuate during the rampage. Students begin classes full time today.
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 Wednesday said it’s important to go back.
“A boogeyman showed up like in a Stephen 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 Wednesday’s return 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 as he described the pain of losing Emily Keyes and recalled that it could have been his own daughter.
“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 that going inside was a little “creepy,” but 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.
Several deputies from Jefferson and Park counties patrolled outside the school. In Bailey, pink ribbons and signs promoting “random acts of kindness” in memory of Emily lined U.S. 285. On the front doors of most businesses, numbers are posted for people to call if they need help coping with the tragedy.
“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.”
Shelly Horstmann, an employee at the high school, said she found it comforting to return to campus because of the support there.
“Just to be back with the kids … that’s where we left off and where we want to be,” Horstmann said.
Her 14-year-old daughter, Tori, who accompanied her, 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.”
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
