By Eric Stock
NORMAL – Unit 5 Superintendent Mark Daniel said the end to the school year this week can’t come soon enough in light of recent events of gun violence in schools.
First there were shots fired at Dixon High School last Wednesday, then the shooting in Santa Fe, Texas last Friday in which 10 people were killed.
PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Daniel on WJBC.
“The problems do not seem to cease so we need to confront them,” Daniel declared. “Perhaps we also need more counselors, perhaps we also need some more staff who can
intervene on behalf of these students that are struggling.”
Daniel told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin while school officials have worked with local police to improve security, he said there must be greater emphasis on prevention rather than reaction. He said things like metal detectors in schools cost money that schools don’t have.
He said the district is working with local police to improve security, but adding officers costs money.
“These are plans in regards to reaction, we need to be talking about prevention,” Daniel said. “It’s now at a national crisis level, so we need to start to seriously begin to think about how we are going to protest our students and our educators.”
McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage said that’s a sacrifice schools must be willing to make.
PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Sandage on WJBC.
“Do we want out children to be inconvenienced by security at the school or do we want them so be safe?, ” Sandage asked. “Because it’s at the point now where you can’t have both.”
Sandage added we all must report suspicious behavior when we see it, something that didn’t happen in Texas.
“I find it hard (to believe) there wasn’t some red flag somewhere,” Sandage said. “I think anymore a lot of people choose to ignore things and they don’t want to stick their nose in other people’s business and just care about themselves.”
The sheriff added new gun laws and new security can only do so much.
“That’s the tough thing, when you have somebody who’s willing to die to make their statement, they are awful hard to stop,” Sandage said.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
