‘Reach kids where they’re at.’ Parents want change before Mansfield Timberview reopens
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Mansfield Timberview High School shooting
Four people were injured in a shooting at Mansfield Timberview High School in Arlington. Police arrested the shooter, a student at the school.
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Mansfield school district parents want to see more safety measures taken as their students wait for school to reopen Tuesday following a school shooting that left four injured.
Students already had school off Friday and Monday for fall break, parent-teacher conferences and staff workshops, a district spokesperson said in an email. Sporting events will continue as scheduled, except for Timberview volleyball, which will be rescheduled.
Jessica Cunningham, the parent of a Timberview senior in marching band, said her son is gearing up to play at a football game in Waco and attend a band competition out of town as scheduled.
“This is how our kids are going to heal,” Cunningham said.
However, Cunningham and several parents in the district said they’re waiting for details on updated policies and safety measures before sending their children back to campus.
While Timberview remained closed Thursday, other Mansfield school district campuses had extra officers onsite, Superintendent Kimberly Cantu said in a video statement sent to parents. The district has yet to release more details about the shooting and updated protocol, citing an ongoing “thorough investigation” in a district-wide email.
The school does not have metal detectors or a clear bag policy — two precautions that Cunningham said would put her mind at ease.
“I almost am not comfortable sending my son to school unless I know they’re going to either require clear bags, clear backpacks or no backpacks, or there’s going to be somebody checking bags,” Cunningham said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon.
Evonne King, whose middle school student is enrolled in the district, said districts should re-evaluate the need for backpacks because students’ learning materials are increasingly available on their school devices, rather than large books. However, she is not sure metal detectors would solve problems.
King said she went through metal detectors while attending Arlington’s Bowie High School in the 1990s. Her father, a student resource officer, told her detectors may ease people’s worries, but they congest school entryways and students can find their ways around them.
“The kids figure out, if they want to, how to get around it,” King said.
Resource officers, community
District officials lauded Mansfield ISD Police Department and Arlington, Grand Prairie and Mansfield police departments for quickly locking down campus and securing the building.
“When we needed them, they responded,” Cantu said of the officers.
Cantu said the school’s onsite student resource officer quickly responded to the incident as well. The district employs two resource officers at each location, officials told the Star-Telegram.
After the shooting Wednesday, however, parents said they would like to see more resource officers on campus to build rapport with students and make them feel comfortable reporting instances of bullying or harassment.
“I think two are not enough for thousands of kids,” King said.
She added that the district should offer an easier way to report bullying or harassment to officers. Mansfield school district has an online and PDF tip form on its website, as well as a link to the Tarrant County Crime Stoppers website and line at 817-469-8477. Students these days are less likely to seek out the resources, King said.
“We need to reach these kids where they’re at, and they do text,” she said.
While some parents want immediate fixes, they would also like to see the district address systemic issues, including bullying and mental health. Timothy Simpkins’ family said he had been bullied and robbed at Timberview High School, leading him to bring a handgun on campus.
“The decision he made, taking the gun, we’re not justifying that,” said Carol Harrison Lafayette, who acted as a spokesperson for the family. “That was not right. But he was trying to protect himself.”
Amber Bowen, a Mansfield school district parent and former Summit High School teacher, said she’d like to see more funding go toward mental health access for students.
“I can’t tell you how many times as a teacher I have called home and parents will tell me that they don’t know what to do with their kid’s behavior either. Parents would like help I think,” Bowen said.
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 5:34 PM.
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