EAU CLAIRE (WQOW) - After Tuesday's tragedy in Texas, the Eau Claire Area School District is offering parents reassurance that their children are safe in Eau Claire schools.
In an email to families Wednesday morning, Superintendent Michael Johnson said that safety is the district's highest priority, and that "schools should and must be a place where students feel completely safe and secure."
Johnson said Eau Claire schools have safety systems in place such as secured entrances, frequent safety drills, and a "strong" partnership with the Eau Claire Police Department.
School resource officer Tom Xiong agreed, saying as an SRO at Northstar Middle School he has gone through extensive training to be prepared for the worst.
"I just want to reassure the families and students that go to Eau Claire Area School District that we're very familiar with these kinds of situations and how to handle them," Xiong said. "We practice a lot of intruder alerts. So staff here, the police department, and the school district are very familiar with these kinds of situations."
Xiong said students go through that training as well, where alarms prompt teachers to hide their students in their classrooms and wait for law enforcement to arrive.
In his statement, Superintendent Johnson added the district has counselors available for any student who needs extra support.