By Richard Meek
Contributing Writer

LAPLACE – School officials throughout the River Parishes say the tragic shooting of 20 students this past Friday in Newtown, Conn., has all districts on full alert and has provided an impetus for reviewing their emergency procedures.

On Friday, a gunman broke through a window to gain entrance into Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown and killed 26 people, including 20 children. He later turned the gun on himself as police approached, ending what could have been an even larger slaying.

“Every time something like this happens, schools come alive,” said Gaynell Albert, administrator director for student services for the St. James Parish Schools. “They are in the protective mode.”

Heidi Trosclair, assistant superintendent for St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools, agreed the shootings have likely put the staff on “heightened alert.”

“I would imagine all the principals are feeling that,” she said.

Officials from each school district said they have internal mechanisms in place should students, or even staff members, need grief counseling to deal with the aftermath. Behavioral specialists are urging parents and teachers to be aware of any changes in a child’s behavior in the past few days, especially mood swings or changes in eating habits.

“Each school site has a counselor who is trained to address student needs,” said Stevie Crovetto, director of public information for St. Charles Parish Public Schools.

Trosclair said she was unaware of how many students have sought help at each school but said she emailed principals and teachers information regarding how deal with certain questions.

In St. James Parish, “nothing has been brought to the attention of the central office,” Albert said. “No one has any questions as far as we know.”

Although there were no shootings involved, St. John officials faced a situation in August when an unloaded gun was found in a book bag at West St. John High School. There were no injures, but the school was locked down for about 2 1/2 hours.

Two 16-year-old freshmen were eventually arrested.

“The lessons learned (from the August incident) we brought back (and introduced) to training with the principals,” she said. “Each school has a crisis plan put in place in case of an active shooter or intruder. There are certain procedures (that are reviewed annually) we follow that will be activated.

“We have something in place and hope it never happens.”

Albert said the St. James administration has a crisis plan template, and each principal massages and tweaks that plan to fit the individual school. District officials view each of those plans.

“We need to make sure all of the plans are workable,” she said. “When (the Connecticut shootings) happened I sent out an email to all principals to tell them to keep Connecticut in their prayers and to review their crisis management plan. The plans are good.”

She said principals should hold several drills during the school year to practice in case a shooting or other emergency situation would arise.

“It’s good leadership skills,” she said.

Crovetto said district officials in St. Charles conduct “continual reviews of safety policy and procedures on an ongoing basis.”

Additionally, a complete breakdown of district policy and procedures during any emergency is posted on the St. Charles Parish Public Schools website.