CMS Addressing Safety Concerns After Va. Tech Shootings

The massacre on Virginia Tech's campus has left school leaders all over the country wondering if they're doing everything they can to keep students safe.

Hours before a gun incident at North Mecklenburg High School on Wednesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman addressed the concerns during a visit to Piney Grove Elementary in east Charlotte. Gorman said Monday's deadly shootings have forced the district to review its own safety plans.

"If you think about that, something as tragic as that, how do you plan to stop something exactly like that? That's the question we're being asked and that's a very difficult question," Gorman said.

Gorman said he won't rule out the possibility of using metal detectors at all CMS schools to keep guns from getting on campus.

"I want our kids to go to school and not have to worry about those things. I don't want our kids to be like at an airport when you're waiting in line to go in, but I'll tell you, the safety comes first. If we have to go to something like that, we will," he said.

Last fall each CMS school tested its emergency plan. The plans tell principals what they're supposed to do, who they're supposed to call and how they're supposed to get students to safety in case something dangerous happens on their campus.

Gorman said many CMS parents have asked about the plans since the Virginia Tech shootings, but local incidents also have parents concerned. On Tuesday an unloaded gun was found at Ranson Middle School after a fellow student tipped off school officials, and Gorman says that student is a hero.

Gorman says CMS takes any threats a student makes to hurt anyone seriously. Last week a student left a message threatening to hurt him- or herself in a CMS survey. Gorman said the reader quickly notified school officials, who in turn notified campus security.

Gorman would not identify the student's school or grade.

The superintendent chose to visit Piney Grove on Wednesday because the Business Volunteer Council recently donated money and equipment to build the school a new playground, which was designed by some of the students. About 150 volunteers and business leaders are spending all day Wednesday putting it together.