Fifty mental health workers assisted students at Platte Canyon schools on their first day back since the shooting on campus last week, Superintendent Jim Walpole said.
Out of 460 enrolled students at Platte Canyon High School, only 10 were reported absent today. At neighboring Fitzsimmons Middle School, only seven students were absent out of 309, he said.
Students began classes in the exact spot where they left off on the day of the shooting. Many of them also stopped to pray around a flagpole near the entrance of the high school.
“They are going to start through third period and move through the rest of the day,” Walpole said. We want to get them to that setting so they are feeling comfortable to face where they were.”
“We are continuing to heal from last week’s tragedy,” said principal Bryan Krause, in a statement. “The staff and students are thankful to be back into school.”
Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said the simple act of retrieving their backpacks on Wednesday probably brought students a sense of security.
Wegener made light of one student who was concerned because he left two burritos in his backpack when he had to evacuate campus.
Wegener said national and local experts have offered assistance on school security issues, including the special assistant to President Bush on domestic issues.
“I don’t want it to look like a prison,” Wegener said of the high school. “I want (students) to see the same things they have always seen.”
Walpole said he expects to include student input in any new security plan that may be implemented in his district.
Wegener says he hopes a renewed look at security will help schools nationwide. Especially considering there was absolutely no security expected when six girls at the Amish schoolhouse in Nikel Mines, Penn. were killed just days after Platte Canyon’s shooting.
“That situation right there in Pennsylvania will break your heart,” he said.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-954-1219 or at fcardona@denverpost.com.
