Local schools have had emergency plans in place for years, but last week's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman murdered 20 young children and six adults, has school administrators and law enforcement considering what else can be done to prevent a similar tragedy from happening here.
"Administratively, we will be discussing our plan again in January and if there will be any recommended potential changes based on the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy," said Cory Hirsbrunner, district administrator of Monroe schools. Currently the Monroe plan covers protocol for situations involving fire, bomb threats, kidnapping, weapons, hostages, sexual assault, intruders and more.
Chuck Deery, administrator of Brodhead schools, said he expects local police will be "more actively involved this time" when the district's crisis plan goes up for its regular review in January.
Brodhead schools have had a crisis plan in place since "long before" the 1999 school shooting in Columbine High School, Colo., Deery said. It covers emergency situations from the death of a staff member to a chemical spill.
State law strengthened school safety plans in 2010 with minimum requirements. Like other area districts, Juda School District already had a plan in place before 2010. The district does "mock lockdowns" about two to three times a year to acclimate staff and students to emergency procedures.
"We've been doing lockdowns here five years or better," said Phil Trotter, maintenance supervisor.
In Darlington, all school doors are locked down at all times, according to Jason King, chief of Darlington police. Visitors must press a buzzer and can only enter after a staff member views them on a video monitor and buzzes them in.
A buzzer system has been suggested for Monroe schools in the past and will be up for discussion again in January, Hirsbrunner said.
But, she noted, Sandy Hook Elementary School had just gotten that type of system and it did not stop the intruder.
That gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, reportedly shot his way into the school. He brought with him his mother's two handguns and a .223 caliber Bushmaster AR-15 rifle with high-capacity magazines capable of firing hundreds of rounds of ammunition in minutes.
DEATH, NOT POINTS
How to prevent another mass shooting has become the focus of a nationwide discussion. Newtown is yet another location in recent years that has become synonymous with tragedy - Oak Creek, Aurora, Virginia Tech.
Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud has been trying to wrap his mind around the Newtown tragedy ever since he watched news of it break last Friday morning on the TV in his office. He has thought about reforms to gun laws and mental health care. He has also thought about how awful the frustration and shock must have been for the first responders at the school.
"I just haven't come to a conclusion. It's nothing you can solve that quickly," he said. One move he believes would help, however, is restricting access to high-capacity magazines.
"I'd sure like to see them ban high-capacity magazines as quickly as possible," he said.
Beyond that, he's unsure of what gun reforms would help, if any. "I'm a hunter myself and carry a pistol for work," he said. Then again, what happened in Newtown involves far more dangerous weapons, he pointed out.
"You couldn't do that with a hunting rifle," he said.
King, the Darlington police chief, and Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley are both also cautious about sweeping changes to current gun laws. "The government has to address meaningful legislation," King said, a "comprehensive approach that includes new issues.
"We have always had guns. We have always had mental health (problems). We have always had bullies," he said.
What's different now? Parents who allow their children access to extremely graphic and violent video games, according to King.
"A lot of these games are games whereby you kill human beings," he said. In real life, he added, "you don't get to hit a reset button. When you shoot someone, it results in death. It doesn't result in points."
King cites as an inspiration Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author and "killology" expert. Grossman co-authored the book "Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence."
"My entire department has been to training with this particular speaker," King said.
After most tragedies in smaller towns, like Newtown, citizens often express shock that something so violent could happen in a quiet, safe place.
"Absolutely we understand it could happen anywhere," King said.
'SO MANY FACTORS AT PLAY'
Police in Monroe train regularly in how to handle an active shooter and they participate quarterly in firearms and tactical training, often partnering with law enforcement in neighboring counties, according to Kelley.
By law, officers can remove firearms from a home only in a case of domestic abuse. But Skatrud and Kelley said their officers often recommend that family members remove firearms from a home where someone with a mental or behavioral problem is living.
"It's an informal disposition, but it's common sense," Skatrud said.
How to legislate common sense is complex, however. Like King and Skatrud, Kelley doesn't see gun control in black-and-white terms. He's full of questions: Should we ban all firearms? Where do we draw the line? Why haven't concealed-carry laws stopped more mass shootings?
Still, when it comes to the Newtown shooting, Kelley said, "it doesn't appear to me that any (type of gun regulation) would have stopped it ... There's so many factors at play.
"We always want to point the finger someplace. Sometimes issues just aren't that simple."
In the meantime, the Monroe Police Department is hiring, and Kelley said an emphasis for the position is to "be more present in the schools."
"Administratively, we will be discussing our plan again in January and if there will be any recommended potential changes based on the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy," said Cory Hirsbrunner, district administrator of Monroe schools. Currently the Monroe plan covers protocol for situations involving fire, bomb threats, kidnapping, weapons, hostages, sexual assault, intruders and more.
Chuck Deery, administrator of Brodhead schools, said he expects local police will be "more actively involved this time" when the district's crisis plan goes up for its regular review in January.
Brodhead schools have had a crisis plan in place since "long before" the 1999 school shooting in Columbine High School, Colo., Deery said. It covers emergency situations from the death of a staff member to a chemical spill.
State law strengthened school safety plans in 2010 with minimum requirements. Like other area districts, Juda School District already had a plan in place before 2010. The district does "mock lockdowns" about two to three times a year to acclimate staff and students to emergency procedures.
"We've been doing lockdowns here five years or better," said Phil Trotter, maintenance supervisor.
In Darlington, all school doors are locked down at all times, according to Jason King, chief of Darlington police. Visitors must press a buzzer and can only enter after a staff member views them on a video monitor and buzzes them in.
A buzzer system has been suggested for Monroe schools in the past and will be up for discussion again in January, Hirsbrunner said.
But, she noted, Sandy Hook Elementary School had just gotten that type of system and it did not stop the intruder.
That gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, reportedly shot his way into the school. He brought with him his mother's two handguns and a .223 caliber Bushmaster AR-15 rifle with high-capacity magazines capable of firing hundreds of rounds of ammunition in minutes.
DEATH, NOT POINTS
How to prevent another mass shooting has become the focus of a nationwide discussion. Newtown is yet another location in recent years that has become synonymous with tragedy - Oak Creek, Aurora, Virginia Tech.
Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud has been trying to wrap his mind around the Newtown tragedy ever since he watched news of it break last Friday morning on the TV in his office. He has thought about reforms to gun laws and mental health care. He has also thought about how awful the frustration and shock must have been for the first responders at the school.
"I just haven't come to a conclusion. It's nothing you can solve that quickly," he said. One move he believes would help, however, is restricting access to high-capacity magazines.
"I'd sure like to see them ban high-capacity magazines as quickly as possible," he said.
Beyond that, he's unsure of what gun reforms would help, if any. "I'm a hunter myself and carry a pistol for work," he said. Then again, what happened in Newtown involves far more dangerous weapons, he pointed out.
"You couldn't do that with a hunting rifle," he said.
King, the Darlington police chief, and Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley are both also cautious about sweeping changes to current gun laws. "The government has to address meaningful legislation," King said, a "comprehensive approach that includes new issues.
"We have always had guns. We have always had mental health (problems). We have always had bullies," he said.
What's different now? Parents who allow their children access to extremely graphic and violent video games, according to King.
"A lot of these games are games whereby you kill human beings," he said. In real life, he added, "you don't get to hit a reset button. When you shoot someone, it results in death. It doesn't result in points."
King cites as an inspiration Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author and "killology" expert. Grossman co-authored the book "Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence."
"My entire department has been to training with this particular speaker," King said.
After most tragedies in smaller towns, like Newtown, citizens often express shock that something so violent could happen in a quiet, safe place.
"Absolutely we understand it could happen anywhere," King said.
'SO MANY FACTORS AT PLAY'
Police in Monroe train regularly in how to handle an active shooter and they participate quarterly in firearms and tactical training, often partnering with law enforcement in neighboring counties, according to Kelley.
By law, officers can remove firearms from a home only in a case of domestic abuse. But Skatrud and Kelley said their officers often recommend that family members remove firearms from a home where someone with a mental or behavioral problem is living.
"It's an informal disposition, but it's common sense," Skatrud said.
How to legislate common sense is complex, however. Like King and Skatrud, Kelley doesn't see gun control in black-and-white terms. He's full of questions: Should we ban all firearms? Where do we draw the line? Why haven't concealed-carry laws stopped more mass shootings?
Still, when it comes to the Newtown shooting, Kelley said, "it doesn't appear to me that any (type of gun regulation) would have stopped it ... There's so many factors at play.
"We always want to point the finger someplace. Sometimes issues just aren't that simple."
In the meantime, the Monroe Police Department is hiring, and Kelley said an emphasis for the position is to "be more present in the schools."