Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain released a statement in response to yesterday’s active shooter at the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School.

“We want to assure each of you that we share your concerns regarding such tragedies, and we are vigilant and proactive here in the Rockwood School District in all areas–especially where the safety of our students and staff are concerned.”

In the shooting incident, three died and seven were injured, including the gunman after he approached the nearby Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience.

Dr. Cain said RSD has annual emergency trainings with first responders and will continue to do intruder drills to ensure they are keeping up with the latest safety regulations.

The district’s annual Crisis Planning Workshop took place Wednesday, Sept. 28 at the Administrative Annex in Eureka with nearly 100 RSD admin, parents, Board of Education members and school resource officers and representatives from emergency responders met. Additionally, on Oct. 3 majority of (?) staff members underwent a half day of intruder training while classes were not in session due to Professional Development Day.

Pasted below is the Dr. Cain’s statement sent to Rockwood:

Dear Rockwood Families,

We are all extremely saddened by the events that unfolded this morning in a neighboring school district. The loss of life that took place is truly a senseless tragedy, and our thoughts and prayers are with all who have been personally impacted. We have students and staff who reside in the city of St. Louis, and this will understandably have a significant impact on them as well.
During times like this, it is only natural to think of our own children and schools. We want to assure each of you that we share your concern regarding such tragedies, and we are vigilant and proactive here in the Rockwood School District in all areas – especially where the safety of our students and staff are concerned.

We have multiple safety protocols and measures in place to protect our students, staff and visitors.

All staff members in our district, including teachers, administrators and support staff, are trained in emergency response procedures.
We have crisis plans in place for each of our buildings to deal with emergency situations, including those similar to what occurred at Central Visual and Performing Arts High today.
We run regular drills, including intruder drills, which help keep our staff mindful of the correct procedures to follow in an emergency.
Rockwood has a strong partnership with our local law enforcement officials, and we work with them closely to ensure that our schools are secure. Our high schools are each staffed with a full-time school resource officer, and additional officers assigned to all of our buildings are quick to respond when help is needed.
We hold annual crisis training with first responders, and we consult regularly with law enforcement and fire protection officials about safety issues to ensure that we are considering all the latest safety regulations and recommendations.

Counselors, social workers and social-emotional behavior specialists in our buildings are available to help students who have been affected by this tragedy that hits so close to home. If your child would like to speak to someone at school about his or her feelings, concerns or fears, please let us know or encourage them to reach out to a trusted adult. It is critical that our students feel safe at school so they are free to learn. We also have free access for students to Hazel HEART therapy either from school or at home, and you can refer them as a parent or request access through your child’s school counselor.

We would also like to share this resource from the National Association of School Psychologists to assist you with conversations with your children about violence. Additionally, we encourage you to have conversations with your children about sharing concerns when they see or hear something that seems inappropriate. That information can easily be shared through Courage2Report, which alerts us immediately to the concern so that we can investigate.
Please be assured that the Rockwood School District has the safety and well-being of your children and our staff in mind at all times. We will work together to make sure that our procedures for preventing situations such as this are as strong as possible and that our children are protected during their time at school in our care.

Thank you for your support and for trusting us with your children. Please join us in extending our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to the SLPS community.

Curtis Cain, Ph.D.
Superintendent

October 24, 2022