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SM-FC School Superintendent Responds to Connecticut Shooting

San Mateo and Foster City Police Departments visited local campuses Friday to assure the schools of their support and availability.

San Mateo and Foster City police officers were on hand at local schools Friday following a devastating massacre at an elementary school in Connecticut that shocked the entire nation.

San Mateo-Foster City School District Superintendent Dr. Cynthia Simms said she was "deeply troubled" to hear of the shooting Friday morning.

"My heart goes out to the community and the families of the victims," Simms said in a statement.

The mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday morning horrified the nation and left parents questioning how they can protect their children.

Twenty-seven people were killed—the majority of them children between the ages of 5 and 10—at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. The violence is the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

Simms said police officers went to campuses Friday to provide support to students, teachers and administrators.

"[Police] will have an increased presence in our communities throughout the day and evening," Simms said.

"While there is no indication that this is anything but an isolated incident, we take this opportunity to remind our families that we conduct regular drills, including those for a building lockdown, and that we have a check-in process for all visitors to the campus," she said.

"This is a stark reminder of the importance of our safety procedures and our check-in processes for all visitors to campuses. The San Mateo-Foster City School District has been working closely with our police departments to review and assess security measures on each school site and have very sound procedures and protocols in. Student safety and school security is our highest priority. As we will learn more details in the hours and days ahead and we will discuss and debrief with administrators and staff act accordingly," she said.

 

Read more about the Connecticut shooting:

Rep. Speier: Connecticut Shooting an 'Unspeakable Tragedy'

Latest updates from Newtown.Patch.Com

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Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
Bren May 19, 2013 at 06:49 pm
I see that I meant to type "...that connect us to the past," but I accidentally typedRead More "...and connect us to the past." I think my meaning came through, though. Yes, the world does not need another national chain retail store or restaurant, which is surely what they're planning to put in there.
CP May 19, 2013 at 02:22 pm
Yes Bren, agree with you....good point.....really what it seems to come down to is money vs. theRead More good of the community and richness of traditions. And all despite the Master Plan for that site in San Mateo that seems to require an ice skating rink or similar recreational facility AT THAT SITE, and all despite the fact the Ice Chalet would like to continue operations there. The Developer has made it difficult to impossible for any ice rink to operate there (tricky it seems)....so they can get a cookie cutter retail outlet in ? .....very, very sad for the youth of the community.
Bren May 17, 2013 at 10:09 am
I think the issue is much larger than whether children will experience stress. That ice rink is aRead More local institution, dating back at least to when Fashion Island was there. It's terrible for communities to lose so many landmarks and connect us to the past.
Anita Reimann April 29, 2013 at 11:43 am
Dear Ari, Thank you for your service to our community. It's wonderful that you are already making aRead More difference.