Many students in Georgia’s Barrow County are headed back to class Tuesday, six days after a shooting killed two teachers and two students at the school district’s Apalachee High School northeast of Atlanta.
While no return date has been set for the 1,900 students at that high school, the 13,000 students in Barrow County’s other schools will return, including at the middle school and elementary school that border the Apalachee campus in Winder.
Superintendent Dallas LeDuff, in a video message Sunday, said sheriff’s deputies and state troopers will provide extra security when schools reopen Tuesday, with counseling available at all campuses. He said that if students or employees aren’t ready to return, they should contact their school’s principal for aid.
“We know the days ahead are going to be difficult, and that we have some staff and some students who are not ready to return to school,” LeDuff said. “We also believe as a school system that it is our responsibility to provide a safe space for those who are.”
Sabrina Masters Reed, a third-grade teacher at Holsenback Elementary School, said she attended grief and trauma training on Monday. She said she’s not sure how many students will return Tuesday, but said many parents will need their children to return so they can go to work without having to find child care.
Many in the community remain in shock nearly a week after the shootings, said Reed, who leads the county’s chapter of the Georgia Association of Educators, the state’s second-largest teachers group.
“I know of other coworkers — who are parents — and parents who chose this community because they thought it was safe here,” Reed said of the rapidly suburbanizing county of 90,000 people. “The thing is, I think it is a safe place here in Barrow County. It’s just a sad fact that these tragedies can happen anywhere in any community in the U.S.”
Relatives and friends are mourning the victims, including teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. A memorial service was held Sunday for Aspinwall, while a Romanian Orthodox Church congregation honored Irimie. Her funeral is set for Saturday.
Colt Gray, 14, is charged as an adult with four counts of murder, and District Attorney Brad Smith has said more charges are likely to be filed against him in connection with the wounded. Authorities have also charged his 54-year-old father, Colin Gray with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. Investigators allege Colin Gray gave his son access to the gun when he knew or should have known that the teen was a danger to himself and others.
Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, with seven of those hit by gunfire. More of the wounded are going home from hospitals. Doug Griffith said his 15-year-old daughter, Natalie Griffith was released from a hospital on Monday after being treated for gunshot wounds to her arm and wrist.
Natalie Griffith is a freshman and a flute player in the band. She was shot in her algebra class.
“She’s got an A in algebra, and she’s extremely proud of that,” Doug Griffith said.
Griffith is one of a number of relatives seeking to raise donations through GoFundMe. He said he wants to make sure his daughter has help, as well as to support other victims.
“I just want to make sure that she has the support that she’s going to need because this is uncharted territory,” Griffith said.
On Monday the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency and county officials opened a community recovery center in Winder, offering counseling, legal and financial assistance and other services.
