Good response
There will be time enough in the coming days and weeks to figure out why a hunter’s bullet ripped through the wall of D. Ferd Swaney Elementary School in the Albert Gallatin School District. Investigators will sort through ballistic tests to determine if the shot came from one of the rifles carried by a pair of 16-year-old hunters. And questions will be asked as to why those boys weren’t in school, and what, if anything, can be done to ensure area schools fall far out of hunting zones. But for now, we believe it is important to acknowledge the terrific job that Albert Gallatin’s administration and teaching staff did in response. There was still more than an hour left in the school day Wednesday when a stray bullet from a hunting rifle tore through the wall of a third-grade classroom, sailed across the room and struck a book bag on the opposite wall. Thankfully, no one was harmed. But when a school building is pierced by a bullet, especially while students are in session, if left unchecked panic can mount.
Staff immediately jumped to follow the district’s crisis response plan – one of those documents that is created and people are trained to follow, yet is rarely needed. What was most impressive about Albert Gallatin’s handling of this incident was its full and immediate disclosure to the other school buildings, parents and media.
Too often, school districts attempt to keep incidents quiet in the misguided belief that the public will become unnecessarily alarmed. Albert Gallatin wisely saw that it was better to error on the side of disseminating information – with a letter sent immediately home with the students – than to let the rumor mill spread false information. The administration, staff and students handled themselves well.