ROBBINSDALE, Minn. — The Robbinsdale Area School Board is taking a harder stance on guns in schools after a contentious meeting Monday night where parents and teachers voiced their concerns.
The school board now says they are reevaluating how their schools handled these most recent incidents and how they should handle gun reports moving forward.
That's a different message than what school officials were saying before Monday night’s meeting.
This all comes after three separate reports of students bringing guns into middle schools in recent weeks.
Parents and teachers were upset that they, and police weren't notified immediately.
Some parents at the meeting said they didn’t hear about one recent incident until five days after it happened.
"I just want answers,” parent Mike Shanor said.
During Monday night's school board meeting, KARE 11 asked Superintendent David Engstrom if school officials should have called police first in these recent cases, and if they will moving forward.
"We take everything on a case by case basis and so when it comes to reporting to police," he said. "We have to do our investigation and so on certain cases sometimes that investigation may take a while."
Minutes after this interview, school leaders and the school board went into a closed meeting.
KARE 11 called the school district Tuesday morning for an update on what leaders discussed during this closed-door meeting, and our request was met with a statement from School Board Chair Helen Bassett.
That statement says, “on behalf of the school board, we apologize for the anxiety this entire situation caused for so many.”
The statement also delivered a very different message than what school leaders had been saying up until this point.
"We are assured that district administrators will notify police immediately when there's a report or suspicion of a gun, either at school or in the possession of a student. The district will also communicate with families and staff immediately about incidents involving guns.”
The statement also says the Board of Education has identified policies, practices and procedures that need review and clarification.
And the school district and board are committed to reviewing their policies to see where changes need to be made.
Here is the full statement from Bassett:
During last night’s School Board meeting and community listening session, families and staff made their voices heard loud and clear. We take their concerns seriously, and we share them. On behalf of the school board, we apologize for the anxiety this entire situation caused for so many.
During the closed session meeting, the Board of Education discussed the weapon-related incidents and how we could have responded better. It was a productive discussion, and set the board on a clear path forward.
Specifically, the Board of Education and district administrators have identified policies, practices and procedures that need review and clarification. This work was already underway and will continue.
The board and administration commit to a review process that leads to continuous improvement related to school safety. The review process will provide data that will be an important base for updates provided to our staff and to the community, going forward.
We are assured that district administrators will notify police immediately when there’s a report or suspicion of a gun, either at school or in the possession of a student. The district will also communicate with families and staff immediately about incidents involving guns.
The safety of students and staff will always be our highest priority.
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