Frisco Enterprise > News
Frisco leaders speak out about Sandy Hook incident
By Anthony Tosie, atosie@starlocalnews.com
Last Friday's tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., struck a nerve throughout the country.
The incident, which left 20 children and seven adults dead, has been in the national news since it happened, and Frisco leaders are still trying to find ways to reassure their community.
At Tuesday's regular city council meeting, Frisco Mayor Maher Maso said it's impossible to measure the impact the event had on the country.
"As a community, none of us can make sense of what happened -- we grieve with the nation and we grieve with the families," he said. "It's important we remember the good in the community [at a time like this]. ... We're surrounded by good, great people."
Maso noted Lauren Tonkovich, a student at Liberty High School, organized a vigil that took place the same night the Sandy Hook shootings occurred. That event, Maso said, showed the caring that can come out of the community.
Frisco ISD Superintendent Rick Reedy also released a statement in response to the incident, saying that while Frisco is "separated both by geographical distance and by a lack of actual experience with the pain and loss" with Newtown, it will continue to grieve with the Connecticut town.
"The events of late last week in Newtown leave me searching for an appropriate way to express my shock, disbelief and grief," Reedy's statement says. "As rich and varied as our English language is, how do we assemble the words in such a pattern as to speak about the unspeakable? How do we write about the unfathomable? How do we summon the sentences to make sense of the senseless? In the end, we cannot."
The statement went on to say Frisco ISD would continue to emphasize safety measures in its schools. Those measures include properly training employees, working with the city's police and fire departments, and completing campus safety and security audits at district schools.
Most importantly, Reedy said, was the district's continued emphasis on teachers who make students their priority.
"We will also continue to recruit, hire and train the kind of professional and support people who always place students first and who would react -- should the unthinkable occur -- with the same bravery and valor in protecting our children that our brother and sister educators in Newtown exhibited," his statement says.
The incident, which left 20 children and seven adults dead, has been in the national news since it happened, and Frisco leaders are still trying to find ways to reassure their community.
At Tuesday's regular city council meeting, Frisco Mayor Maher Maso said it's impossible to measure the impact the event had on the country.
"As a community, none of us can make sense of what happened -- we grieve with the nation and we grieve with the families," he said. "It's important we remember the good in the community [at a time like this]. ... We're surrounded by good, great people."
Maso noted Lauren Tonkovich, a student at Liberty High School, organized a vigil that took place the same night the Sandy Hook shootings occurred. That event, Maso said, showed the caring that can come out of the community.
Frisco ISD Superintendent Rick Reedy also released a statement in response to the incident, saying that while Frisco is "separated both by geographical distance and by a lack of actual experience with the pain and loss" with Newtown, it will continue to grieve with the Connecticut town.
"The events of late last week in Newtown leave me searching for an appropriate way to express my shock, disbelief and grief," Reedy's statement says. "As rich and varied as our English language is, how do we assemble the words in such a pattern as to speak about the unspeakable? How do we write about the unfathomable? How do we summon the sentences to make sense of the senseless? In the end, we cannot."
The statement went on to say Frisco ISD would continue to emphasize safety measures in its schools. Those measures include properly training employees, working with the city's police and fire departments, and completing campus safety and security audits at district schools.
Most importantly, Reedy said, was the district's continued emphasis on teachers who make students their priority.
"We will also continue to recruit, hire and train the kind of professional and support people who always place students first and who would react -- should the unthinkable occur -- with the same bravery and valor in protecting our children that our brother and sister educators in Newtown exhibited," his statement says.
Copyright © 2013 - Star Local News