KINGSTON -- We spoke with parents at Chester Street Elementary in Kingston on Friday while they waited to pick up their kids from school. All of them heard about the shooting in Connecticut. Each one said they were worried, shocked, and concerned about school security.
As school let out at Chester Street Elementary in Kingston, parents and grandparents hugged their kids a little closer. The news of the deadly and tragic school shooting in Connecticut has parents in Kingston shaken to say the least.
Melissa Lepore has two kids in the district, and she is nervous about sending them back to school on Monday.
"You drop your kid off at school. You think ultimately that they’re going to be safe, and you can walk away knowing that, but nowadays you can’t even do that," said Lepore, who lives in Plymouth.
"You can’t even take your kids to school anymore without the worry of somebody doing something to them,” said Kathleen Kelly, a parent from Kingston.
The shooting raises a number of questions for parents and grandparents. Some wonder how they’ll explain to the children what happened.
"I wouldn’t know what to say because I'm sure they’re going to hear if they haven’t already. It’s hard for children to come to school and realize this can happen," said Diane Broody of Kingston.
Others want to keep their children away from any news about the shooting.
"I don’t want my kids to see this on TV. They won’t come here to school anymore if they see this on TV. They’ll get scared," said one parent.
However, for grandparents like Diane Broody, it’s also raising questions about school security.
"This can happen at any school in the united states. These are little kids. Oh my god. I have grandchildren here. I don’t even know these families and you just get so emotional," said Broody.
We tried to speak with the superintendent from the Wyoming Valley West School District about whether the shooting in Connecticut would change the way security is handled in the district, but he was not available for comment. As for the parents we spoke, they said they still plan on sending their kids to school as usual on Monday.