Some Walsh Middle School parents want changes after threat
ROUND ROCK, Texas - Some Round Rock ISD parents are on edge following a threat referencing a gun being brought to Walsh Middle School.
This happened Friday and that same day, authorities found it was not credible. Some parents still want to see the district and school do more to protect their kids.
A small group of parents met in front of the school on Monday. Until they get more answers, they say they are not letting their children go back to school.
“This is how it starts. Some sort of threats made, are detected. Next thing you know, there’s a bunch of dead kids,” says PJ Kerr, concerned parent.
PJ Kerr says it’s everyone's worst nightmare - a school shooting. That’s the reason he decided to keep his daughter home Monday, following a threat made at Walsh Middle School.
“If this hadn’t been something going on around the globe, you know maybe we would be less stringent about it. At this point, anything’s possible and as parents, it’s our job,” says Kerr.
According to a letter sent out by the principal on Friday, students alerted them to a threat written in yellow highlighter on a boys' restroom wall. The threat referenced bringing a gun to school. That same day, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office helped in the investigation and found nothing to validate the threat.
“Most of the time, it seems like when it does happen, everybody should have known. That’s the common consensus in general, that we should have known there were signs everywhere. So...just a general statement that it’s not credible at the time when it happened, that’s not sufficient to me," says Kerr.
The letter goes on to say that threats made toward campus safety are taken very seriously and will not be tolerated. Ray Sipple has this to say about whoever is behind the threat:
“Maybe they need some psychiatric help. I don’t know that discipline is always the answer. Maybe somebody just reaching out, with a helping hand, is really what they need,” says Ray Sipple.
The school says every precaution is in place to protect students and staff. But, Kerr and other parents want more details as to what those precautions are. They gathered at the front of Walsh Middle School Monday.
“I mean, I don’t believe that they can just go on as business as usual after this happens. I think that different protocols have to be set, something has to be done. At the very least, communicate with us,” says Kerr.
FOX 7 spoke with Round Rock ISD and they tell us they will follow up with parents in another email in a few days. They hope that will ease any concerns they still have.