[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video _builder_version=”3.19.7″ src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2ncJUBjfZm4&feature=youtu.be” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
One year ago, a gunman opened fire at a\u00a0Parkland, Florida, high school, killing 17 people.\u00a0The shooting a<\/span>t<\/span> Margary Stoneman Douglas High School, the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, again raised hard questions that have plagued parents since the Columbine shooting: Are the schools we send our students to each day safe?<\/p>\n In the Midlands, Richland Two School District officials said they have actively worked over the last year to increase safety on campuses, securing schools\u00a0and vetting visitors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “We’ve been doing things to keep our students safe for a long time. We’re just putting even more of an emphasis on them now,”\u00a0said Will Anderson, Richland Two\u2019s executive director of operations. He emphasized schools are meant to be warm environments. The district wants to make sure schools still have those warm environments inside the buildings, but also the \u00a0protections they need.<\/p>\n Some of those protective initiatives include clear bag policies for sporting events, required ID badges and restricted campus access. Anderson explained how Richland Northeast High School was an open access campus but the district has since enclosed the open-air courtyard and doors in bulletproof glass. \u00a0<\/p>\n The school district’s top priority remains keeping students safe because, “learning can\u2019t happen unless the students, parents and staff feel safe,” Anderson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Michelle Edgar, a Midlands parent, has since begun advocating for gun control because she “doesn’t want to have an episode in South Carolina where groups are gathered in peace and learning and in celebration end up being murdered.”<\/p>\n She and others across the Midlands and nation won\u2019t forget the Parkland shooting carried out by Nikolas Cruz, a mentally ill 19-year-old former Parkland student.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.19.7″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/maggiparkland2.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.19.7″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n Officials with Richland 2 School District, like other Midlands districts, have been strengthening safety and security measures.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.19.7″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/maggiparkland4.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.19.7″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n Richland Northeast High School in Columbia has restricted access to its campus, which includes an open-air courtyard.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How schools in the Midlands have actively worked over the last year to learn from the Majory Stoneman Douglas school shooting. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":17400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[67,62,39],"tags":[553,550,551,552],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17350"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21581,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17350\/revisions\/21581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}