APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – School leaders in an Appleton elementary school discussed school safety concerns with parents Tuesday night.
Six minutes, that’s all it took for a Parkland, Florida shooter to kill 17 people at school.
Ferber Elementary School resource officer, Dane Coonen, said six minutes is actually twice the time it takes the average school shooter.
Coonen tells Fox 11 they’re on a mission to prevent it from happening through training and communication.
“A lot of stuff is happening in the country and we won’t give them an idea that their kids are safe and that we’re taking a lot of precautions and that their kids are safe.”
Coonen said students have ALICE training twice a year. ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Counter and Evacuate.
“It’s not just reading, writing and math anymore; there’s more education that goes on the social part of it and the behavioral part that we want kids to learn.”
Ferber Elementary School principal Paul Cooney says students are also taught social skills and are trained on what to do in different situations.
“Our schools have more technology in the school than we’ve ever had before to provide more information to people on a faster basis. The cellphones had helped out, the radio we carry within the building, the camera systems we have throughout the building.”
Brad Tumas has three children that attend Ferber Elementary and tells FOX 11, he never thought he would be discussing school safety concerns.
“I wanna find out why and what we can do in our community to avoid those. I got some good information today on some of the topics on what all these shooters have in common and what to look for and how they’re addressing that.”
And how school leaders are addressing the issue, Tumas said, is definitely reassuring.
“My principal here Mr. Cooney is doing a fantastic job in giving some of the information on what they’re doing to combat some of the issues. Officer Coonen did a really good job also deciding on giving us pointers and tips on what to look for.
Officials say if there are any questions concerning school safety, you can call the Appleton School District or the Appleton Police Department.
