More than 50 students at Skyline High School participated in a walk-in Tuesday morning to protest gun violence and what they say is a lack of transparency in relation to the violence.
The walk-in comes after a Skyline High School student was killed in a shooting March 24 near Twin Peaks Square.
The school was then placed on secure status as a precaution “due to unsubstantiated rumors circulating in the community,” school district officials said.
Christine Bouck, a parent of a Skyline High School student, said she received several emails from the school and St. Vrain Valley School District about the secure status that were vague and didn’t explain what was actually happening.
“My daughter told us about some of the rumors going around — that the previous week's shooting had been gang related and there was a threat of violence, but even the students didn't know much about what was going on,” she said. “As a parent, it's extremely frustrating.”
Bouck said the lack of information being communicated to students and parents caused more fear, and she and her husband decided to pull their daughter out of school for the day after the school went on secure status.
Parents then received a letter from the district Friday evening, which largely repeated the previous communication.
“It called the threats ‘unsubstantiated rumors’ and, to me, downplayed everything,” she said. “Again, there is still no information on what happened.”
The school’s principal, Heidi Ringer, emailed families Monday evening and asked them to encourage their children to stay in class rather than participate in the demonstration. Ringer said the request was because of safety concerns.
The St. Vrain Valley School District prohibited media from entering school property to cover the walk-in — also citing safety concerns — but the Leader was able to speak to a student off campus, who asked to remain anonymous.
“The information that the school has given is pretty vague, and I don’t really know what happened here … I feel like people should know,” he said.
The teachers had to push the school to get grief counselors after the shooting, Bouck said.
Kerri McDermid, spokesperson for the school district, said officials have provided students with a lot of support after the deadly shooting.
“In addition to Skyline’s counseling team, additional counseling support has been at the school multiple days last week and today, and this information has been communicated to parents and in multiple faculty meetings,” McDermid said.
Richard Peebles, the district’s executive director of safety and security, said safety “remains paramount for our community.”
“We take any reported safety concern very seriously, and immediately and thoroughly investigate all potential threats in partnership with the Longmont Police Department and other local law enforcement partners,” he said in a letter issued to the school community Friday evening. “At present, we continue to investigate all Safe2Tells and other reports, and if any of these warrant further communication, we will notify you immediately.”
The students who participated in the walk-in are hoping for more support and better communication from school administrators moving forward, Bouck said.
