HOWELL – Timothy O’Brien, president of the Howell K-8 School District Board of Education, stressed the importance of safety drills in the wake of an incident that occurred at an elementary school in California.
Speaking during a recent board meeting, O’Brien said, “I am sure everyone on our board feels the same. Our thoughts and prayers go out to our fellow educators in California. We saw this morning that there was an incident of a person going on a rampage.”
On Nov. 15 in northern California, a gunman shot people at multiple locations, killing four individuals. During the incident, the perpetrator shot at people in vehicles and attempted to break into an elementary school, according to authorities.
One child at the school was wounded by gunfire, but no one at the school was killed. The incident ended when law enforcement personnel shot and killed the gunman at another location, according to authorities.
“The only good news to come out of it, and it is good news, is that the school immediately went into lockdown. The perpetrator attacked the school, but was not able to get in and no children were killed,” O’Brien said.
He said training that had been provided to students and staff members was important.
“This is the important thing, the training and a focus on safety. One of the things I am very proud of in this district is the fact that we have (established a) close partnership with the police department (and) our leadership team’s emphasis and our staff’s cooperation and wholeheartedly buying in to the fact that we need to train, we need to be focused on it, and it makes a difference when it counts,” O’Brien said.
The board president said the incident in California was “a sober reminder of the fact that we need to constantly be vigilant.”
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to them and to all schools affected by this, but I think it is a testament to our leadership that we do place the safety of our staff and our children foremost and we have invested in that, especially with the recent (Special Law Enforcement Officer Class III) program,” O’Brien said.
In August, Howell’s elected municipal officials approved a program that permits retired police officers to be hired and assigned to schools.
Police Chief Andrew Kudrick has said on more than one occasion that he regularly thinks about how he can better protect Howell’s public schools.
In October, Kudrick spoke about the Special Law Enforcement Officer program at a Township Council meeting and said, “(Class III special officers will) provide a very high level of security for our most vulnerable – our kids in our schools and also the faculty and staff.
“The school board is our largest employer with the daytime population (combined in all the schools) being the largest of anywhere in town, so it is one of the credible components of our community that I take very seriously in protecting as chief,” he said.