SPRINGFIELD — The SWAT team and fire officials roamed the halls at Springfield schools Tuesday looking for areas that need more security before kids go back to school.
They walked through an elementary, middle and high school within the district.
“They’re looking at locks, they’re looking at windows, they’re looking at visibility,” Jenna Leinasars, communications specialist for Springfield City School District said.
Law enforcement also went over possible active shooter scenarios. Springfield Investigations Captain Michael Kranz gave insight into how law enforcement would handle the situation.
“We don’t want anybody seeing into a room and knowing that there’s somebody in there that they want to go in and try to attack,” Kranz said.
Leinasars admitted its a scary scenario to think about.
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“It’s a scary thing to be in education. It’s a scary thing to be a student or teacher or anybody in that position right now,” she said.
News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott says the walkthrough is supposed to help take away some of the fear as well as work to refresh crews on the layouts of the buildings.
“This is a huge school, a huge facility. It’s good for us to be able to say ‘okay this is what you’re going to see when you go in the school,’” Kranz said.
The walk through happened just as the district received a $800,000 grant from the state to upgrade their safety.
“It’s an incredible feeling to have that kind of money. It’s 50,000 for each of our buildings,” Leinasars said.
The district isn’t sure what they are going to spend the money on yet but will speak with local law enforcement for their suggestions.
The first day of school for Springfield City Schools will be August 24 for grades 1-9 and August 25 for grades 10-12.