NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Metro Nashville Public Schools announced they will add another student resource officer (SRO) to Antioch High School ahead of students’ return to campus nearly a week after a deadly shooting inside the cafeteria.
The addition will bring the total number of SROs at the high school to three, which is the most out of any Metro school.
However some parents, including Jennifer Hernandez, told News 2 they won’t send their children back to school until their students are emotionally ready.
“She used to talk a lot, she used to be happy, smiling. Now she doesn’t do any of that,” Hernandez said of her daughter.
Hernandez told News 2 her daughter was just feet away from the shooter and has recurring nightmares of the horror she witnessed.
“We used to be able to talk about football; she’s a football fan. We used to be able to talk in the car on the way to places. We would just have nice conversations and now she’s just quiet,” Hernandez explained.
Instead of regular instruction this week, classes at Antioch High School will be focused on the emotional well-being of students with trained mental health and trauma-informed specialists on campus, according to MNPS.
However, Hernandez said she’s not sure when her daughter will be ready to go back.
“Even the ones who are close to graduating… I think they [Metro Nashville schools] should give them [students] the opportunity to either do virtual, or give them their credits and allow them to stay at home with their families during this time,” she said.
When asked about the students who won’t be in attendance, a spokesperson for MNPS told News 2:
“We encourage families to be in contact with schools and will work to follow our attendance procedures to ensure absences are excused with parental permission, while we continue to offer support to help them transition back into the school.”
“There’s not just one victim or two victims… there were a lot of victims in the school that day,” Hernandez explained.
The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) will reportedly provide additional safety resources throughout the district. In addition, the police department will also support the school’s counseling efforts with their Family Intervention Program.
