Mt. Horeb School District prepares to help students after tragedy
District will provide counselors, trauma specialists, officers in schools
Mt. Horeb, Wis. (WMTV) - One day after an active shooter threat, the Mt. Horeb community is working towards healing.
The school Superintendent Dr. Steve Salerno met early Thursday morning with staff members in the district, knowing they need to get prepared to help students right away.
“Our focus is really on looking ahead, not looking behind,” said Dr. Salerno. “There will be plenty of time for us to look behind and asses the steps that were taken, how we can improve them and make them better, but at this point we feel like that’s not the energy where we need to be. The first step was meeting with staff,” he said.
The Thursday meeting with staff covered a wide range of topics, beginning with the health of the staff.
“We spent some time grieving, mourning, but also painting the next steps for us as a school district,” said Dr. Salerno.
That includes training them to recognize the signs a student is struggling, which is different for every student. “A one-size-fits-all is not appropriate for the students,” said Dr. Salerno.
“When trauma exposure occurs, it impacts students differently, based on their own unique circumstances and life experiences and their proximity to certain events,” said Trish Kilpin, Director of the Office of School Safety.
Officials with the agency are in Mt. Horeb to provide resources for the district and help train teachers. Kilpin explained the office is about preventing school violence, but they also help in the aftermath of these tragedies.
The next step for the district is to help students feel safe again. Dr. Salerno says one part of that is having at least one officer in each of their schools for the time being.
“Obviously to bring peace of mind to the community to have officers driving by and just checking in,” Dr. Salerno said.
The district says they are settling in for what could be a long road to recovery.
“Grief has no timeline and so we want to do everything we can to be there in support for them,” said Dr. Salerno.
The district doesn’t think things will be back to normal by the end of the school year. In fact, Dr. Salerno says the district is already preparing to have resources ready over the summer.
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