LEXINGTON, Ky. — A mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that claimed the lives of 21 Tuesday is sparking the attention of schools districts in Kentucky. Fayette County Public Schools is the latest to release a statement about the horrific event.
Eight-year-old Jacob Greunke just finished up the school year as a 2nd grader in Fayette County Public Schools. He’s heading into his 3rd grade year after this summer. His little brother will head to kindergarten at the same school. His mom, Amie Greunke, raises the young boys with her husband. However, she is already worried about next year, just days after a mass shooting inside Robb Elementary School killed 21 people including 18 students and 2 teachers.
“There’s gonna be emotions of they’re together and then there’s the emotion of not wanting them together. Maybe if we’re not all in the same place at the same time, someone will be safe,” said Greunke.
Greunke is a regional property manager who works from home, so every moment with her children is cherished. Nearly 1000 miles away from Lexington in Uvalde, Texas, a mass school shooting occurred Tuesday. Greunke says it’s a difficult topic to talk about with her children because often parents’ plan of safety could differ from schools.
“... if this happens, you go straight to the bathroom and lock the door. But if that’s not the plan that a teacher has in place, all I’m doing is making her job difficult because my kids running this direction and she needs him to run to this closet,” said Greunke.
In a statement released on Tuesday by Fayette County Public Schools superintendent Dr. Demetrus Liggins said:
“Our hearts go out to all of those personally touched by this atrocity even as we hug our children a little tighter this evening.”
FCPS tells Spectrum News 1, it’s invested more than $50 million dollars in health and safety measures at every school in the district. In the past four years, they’ve doubled school resource officers, hired nearly 100 additional nurses and mental health professionals. FCPS also sent out resources for parents in the district that want to have the tough conversations about mass shootings. Those resources can be viewed here.
“It affects me physically when I read things and hear things of other people’s loss. This wasn’t a situation that was built in one day. This is an 18-year-old kid. This was built over 18 years of buildup of something,” said Greunke.
Greunke says it starts at home with addressing children’s behavior. She says both Jacob and his younger brother are too young to comprehend mass shootings, but she’s adamant about talking through their feelings each day after school and letting them decompress through sports and playtime with their animals.
FCPS has a collection of emotional support and self-care resources for students, families and school staff at this site.