Published in the February 23, 2018 edition

MELROSE — When the city’s schools reopen Monday following the February break, educators will welcome students and staff back with a continued determination to keep everyone safe.

A week after a gunman murdered 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Supt. of School Cyndy Taymore assured the public that safety inside Melrose’s education facilities is job number one.

THE HESSELTINE PARK FLAG was at half staff in memory of lives lost in Parkland, Florida. (Donna Larsson Photo)

In a text message, Taymore wrote, “The safety and well-being of our students and staff is the Melrose Public Schools’ first priority. Several years ago, in response to another school tragedy, we developed emergency management plans in conjunction with the city’s police, fire, and emergency management departments and with guidance from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) STARS Team (School Threat Assessment and Response System). Since the initial inception of our plan, we review and refine the plan on an annual basis. Additionally, both the school district and the police participate in regular trainings regarding school security, crisis response, and mental health offered by NEMLEC, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Middlesex Partners for Youth, the FBI and the Massachusetts State Police.

“As most parents know, the individual schools regularly practice drills for fire, lockdown, and evacuation. Preparedness for emergencies has been and continues to be an ongoing commitment that we update and practice yearly. In addition, at the middle school and high school we have Melrose Police in the role of School Resource Officers who are present daily. Currently, we believe our students and staff are safe attending the Melrose Public Schools. However, in light of this most recent tragedy, upon return from vacation next week, principals will review with all staff our protocols regarding school security. The district leadership team will also meet to determine if there is a need for additional trainings and/or drills.

“More importantly, the Melrose Public Schools has been extensively engaged in building our capacity to support Melrose students social-emotionally. Over the past five years we have been developing and deepening our practices for positive behavior interventions and strategies, embedding social emotional learning across the curriculum, training in crisis prevention and intervention, and building school based systems and supports for students who are experiencing a range of personal challenges. Educators and administrators have been participating in extensive training in these areas so they can identify and support students who may be facing serious behavioral and social emotional challenges. We also partner with outside agencies to connect families to professionals who can provide assistance. We will continue to prioritize our work in this area in order to ensure the safety of all our students and staff in every one of our schools,” Taymore concluded.

Police Chief Mike Lyle said the reason both Melrose High and the Veterans Memorial Middle School have officers on campus is to help.

“The School Resource Officers are there for students and staff,” Lyle said. “If they see anything, if they hear anything, if they read anything that raises a concern, our message is simple: Please say something.”

Lyle added that in order to solve a problem, police need help getting information.

“You’re safety,” he said to the entire public school community, “is a big, big concern of ours. We’re here to help.”

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Students at the Parkland, Florida high school where the latest in a long, horrible line of school shootings took place on Valentine’s Day expressed anger in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Chris Grady was a theater kid counting down the days until he reported for duty in the U.S. Army this summer when a gunman opened fire at his Florida school. As he huddled in his classroom at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Feb. 14 listening to shots nearby, what he felt wasn’t fear, but anger.

“Full-on anger,” the thin, curly haired 19-year-old said.

Grady’s anger deepened the day after the shooting, when he heard news that the FBI had failed to follow up on a tip about the former student who police say gunned down 14 students and three staff members with an AR-15 styled rifle. News also emerged that Nikolas Cruz had legally purchased the gun despite a documented history of mental health issues.

The FBI received a tip last month that Cruz had a “desire to kill” and access to guns and could be plotting an attack, but agents failed to investigate, the agency acknowledged last Friday. Others had received warnings as well: Records show the Florida Department of Children and Families investigated but concluded Cruz wasn’t a danger to himself or others.

Also last Friday, as gun-control debates raged anew on social media, one of Grady’s close friends created a Twitter account, @NeverAgainMSD, to channel the students’ anger and frustration.

“The Never Again movement started formulating, and we got to work,” Grady said.

Grady and his friend were among about 100 Stoneman Douglas students headed to Florida’s capital, Tallahassee, to push lawmakers to do something to stop gun violence. They also planned to maintain the momentum by attending what they hope will be a massive march on Washington next month.

The efforts have offered students a way to channel their anger and sadness into action. Grady’s life was upended by the shooting. But now, as one of the organizers behind the students’ call for stricter gun-control laws, he is laser-focused on planning and media interviews.

On Tuesday, he rode a bus to Tallahassee. On Wednesday, he and a small group of Never Again organizers will fly back to Parkland for a televised town hall meeting about the shooting. Then their focus will turn to the planned March for Life in the nation’s capital March 24.

That doesn’t leave a lot of time for school.

“If we’ve got to take some extra days off, that’s fine to continue the movement,” he said. “Academics have been put on the back burner.”

Before the shooting, Chris’ time was spent studying theater and working out to get his body in shape for the Army, where he wants to pursue a career in information technology. The second-oldest of four kids, he moved to Parkland from Massachusetts when he was 6. His mother is a property manager, and his step-father is an electrician.

Given his interest in a military career, Chris said he is not anti-gun and supports the Second Amendment. But he believes assault rifles such as the AR-15 styled rifle that authorities say Cruz used should be reserved for the military.

“They’re weapons of war made to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible,” he said.

Grady said he’s ready to work as much as it takes to keep the gun-control movement’s momentum going until he ships out.

“The kids in Newtown were too young to understand what happened and were too young to have their own voice,” he said, referring to the 20 first-graders killed in the 2012 Connecticut school shooting. “We want to be the voice for those kids and thousands of others who have been affected by tragedies like this.”

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.