Red Lake students return to high school after shooting

By Dave Kolpack Associated Press Writer

RED LAKE, Minn. (AP) - Students and their parents who overcame their fears and attended orientation at Red Lake High School Thursday returned to a changed place.

A long welcome mat declared the school "violence free.'' A metal detector was just inside the front door. Three armed guards patrolled the halls. Deadbolt locks were being installed in classroom doors, and more security cameras were going up.

All were visible signs of an effort to make students feel safer upon returning to the classrooms where eight people were killed last March, in the worst school shooting since Columbine.

Red Lake Police Officer Amber Auginash, one of the armed guards, said some of the students seemed a little scared.

"I think that's understandable,'' Auginash said. "I'm hoping to help change that and make the students feel comfortable about being here. I want them to feel free to talk to me.''

By the day's end, school officials expected about 75 students with their parents to tour the school, fill out forms and learn about the security improvements during the first of two days of orientation sessions. Classes were scheduled to resume Tuesday.

School officials praised those who decided to return, six months after 16-year-old Jeffrey Weise walked through the school killing seven people before shooting himself in a classroom. The FBI determined he fired 45 times.

"Heroes are still afraid, but they don't let that fear dominate their lives,'' Principal Chris Dunshee told about two dozen students and their parents gathered in the gym. "Our students coming back this fall are real warriors.''

He compared the high school on the isolated reservation in northwestern Minnesota to the devastation in New Orleans, as the sound of power tools could be heard in the background.

"In the same manner, we have started to rebuild our infrastructure at the school,'' he said. "We've made changes, and changes for the better.''

Esther Spears, the parent of a ninth grader, said she didn't sleep very well Wednesday night. "Yes, there's some excitement and anxiety there,'' she said. "But it's OK. They had to come back. It will be better.''

Before addressing the students in the gym, Dunshee, Superintendent Stuart Desjarlait and other staff members went through a traditional smudging ceremony by inhaling the fumes of burning sage.

"It's a cleansing ceremony and it's something we try to do every day,'' Desjarlait said.

Desjarlait, who took a three-week leave after the shooting, said earlier this month that he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and was still seeing a counselor. He was in the building on March 21, and heard the gunshots.

Three teachers remain on medical leave until psychologists tell them they can return.

Desjarlait said he was glad to have the students back in the school, but stopped short of saying that he was relieved. "I'm never relieved,'' he said. "Maybe a couple of years down the road, when we get things back in place.''

The classroom where most of the students died will never be a classroom again, he said. It will serve as a surveillance room where the safety of students will be monitored.

The school district worked over the summer to reassure students and their families that the school would be safe. There were fears that many students would not return; more than 50 have enrolled in nearby schools outside the district.

Kathy Ferrin, who teachers community education and computers at the school, was glad to see students back in the school on Thursday.

"It is great to see all the smiling faces today,'' she said. "I'm not sure how many we'll get for orientation, but as time goes by, I think we'll see more students return.''

Ferrin said despite the tragedy at the school, many students have shown interest in attending school so they can go on to professional careers. "We've got students who want to be police officers, social workers, teachers and lawyers,'' Ferrin said. "That hasn't changed. I'm proud of our students.''

Junior Nick Johnson said he was ready for another school year. "I've been thinking about school for a while,'' he said. "I think it will be OK.''

One sure sign that things were returning to something close to normal were complaints from students that had nothing to do with security, namely the "crappy school lunches - but you can always bring your lunch,'' said Jim King, 15.