By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — In the wake of last week’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, town officials reiterated to the community once again that they are committed to keeping students and school staff safe.
An 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24. The shooting left 17 people wounded. Border Patrol agents killed the gunman.
School Superintendent Kristen Vogel, Town Administrator Rob Dolan, Police Chief Nick Secatore and Fire Chief/Emergency Management Director Glenn Davis called the tragedy “another incomprehensible school shooting” in a letter sent to families on May 25.
“Elementary students, no different than our own, who simply wanted to attend school and learn and play with their friends,” Vogel, Dolan, Secatore and Davis wrote. “Staff, like our own, who simply loved their students and dedicated their lives to teaching and caring for them. We deeply mourn this unthinkable loss and remember the surviving students and staff, families, loved ones and the community of Uvalde, Texas. We also keep in our thoughts school communities across our country, including our own in Lynnfield, that started school (on May 25) to teach and learn with a heavy heart and so many questions.”
The four Emergency Management Team members stressed that, “Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our students and staff at all times.”
“As an Emergency Management Team and District Security Team, our schools, public safety departments and town administration, working as a true team, evaluate, plan, train and implement safety protocols and emergency procedures in our schools throughout the year,” Vogel, Dolan, Secatore and Davis stated. “Every department, every employee, plays a critical role and trains in every possible situation that may arise in our public schools including medical emergencies, fire, evacuation, and ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate) training and drills. We work with our state and federal partners to study and implement the latest security and operational strategies at every school campus. This is the reality of school administration today, and please know that each of us study our protocols daily and continuously improve and adjust to make our school community a place where we all feel safe and protected every single day.”
Vogel, Dolan, Secatore and Davis also reiterated that Lynnfield students are “precious.”
“They must be protected and school must be a place of peace and safety,” the four officials wrote. “It is our goal to not only make that statement true all the time, but to partner with you to help our students process this horrific and scary event. Given our students’ exposure to technology, many of them have likely seen information about the tragedy in Uvalde, so this will no doubt be top-of-mind discussion among families throughout the nation for days to come.”
The school district’s staff and counselors were available to meet with students and staff members to discuss the tragedy last week. Vogel also said that the District Security Team, which consists of her, Secatore, Davis, School Resource Officer Alex Doto, School Nurse Coordinator Toni Rebelo, Middle School Principal Stephen Ralston, High School Assistant Principal Brian Bates and DPW Director John Tomasz discuss the school district’s safety protocols frequently.
Select Board Chairman Phil Crawford and Select Board members Joe Connell and Dick Dalton wrote in a separate statement that the victims, their families and the survivors were in their thoughts and prayers.
“All of us join together in prayer in the wake of this senseless murder of children who sought only to go to school in peace to learn and be with their friends,” Crawford, Connell and Dalton wrote. “We pray for those in the school that dedicated their lives to teaching those children who died doing just that. We pray for the parents, family, survivors, and community that all are dealing with this unthinkable pain. We also pray for our country and community, that we might find a path to a greater peace and an end to this nightmare of mass killings in schools, supermarkets and churches. As community leaders, we want you to know that our schools, Police, Fire Departments and town administration work hard every day, plan and prepare, at all times, to keep our community safe to keep our children safe. We ask you to remember them also as they continue to serve and protect all of our citizens.”
