‘At school you should feel safe’: Local parents pull kids out of class after Texas school shooting

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — At least 19 children and two adults are dead after a gunman opened fire in a Texas school

Here in Jacksonville, some parents told Action News Jax they pulled their kids out of class for the day.

“I chose just not to discuss it with them too much. But just due to all the things going on, I did decide to pull them out of school,” Jesse Marcum said.

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Marcum feels districts like DCPS are doing enough to keep his kids safe in school.

“I do feel that schools try to do enough. It’s just like you can’t protect everybody all the time. It could happen to anyone, anytime; you just have to be vigilant and keep your eyes open,” he added.

Still, he’s considering home-schooling his kids.

Action News Jax talked to another mom who already home-schools her children and feels schools need to step it up.

“They should be protected. We protect the elites in our society, we protect our president with guns, all those people – celebrities, they have security. But when it comes to our children, we’re supposed to say ‘no guns in school’, and I don’t think it’s a good policy,” she said.

Action News Jax took a look at what’s currently in schools to keep kids safe.

DCPS says all school classrooms are locked when occupied by students. And this week, the district will be on higher alert: the police chief says students cannot bring large bags on campus for the remainder of the week.

In December 2020, Action News Jax told you about a grand jury that blasted the district’s police department for its safety measures, accusing DCPS of not requiring reporting of misdemeanors to police and dramatically underrepresenting gang activity.

The district told Action News Jax it improved its student behavioral incident reporting.

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And in January, Action News Jax told you about DCPS’ new mobile emergency alert system that’s set to be installed by the end of the school year. It allows police to see surveillance video, gives them a map of the schools, and lets them communicate with school officials on-site in emergencies.

“I feel at school you should feel safe where you don’t have to be guarded by guns to go get an education,” Marcum said.

Action News Jax has repeatedly asked DCPS to speak to its police department and the superintendent. We’re waiting to hear back.

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