For Bay Area school districts, Tuesday's deadly mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas is a painful reminder of the importance of preparing for a possible active shooter situation.
At Franklin-McKinley School District in San Jose, teachers conduct biannual drills to make sure children know how to react quickly to stay safe.
"They get away from the door, from the windows and they create what we call an interior barricade basically using desks, anything that they can move to create sort of a barricade where they hide behind," Superintendent Juan Cruz said.
The district recently made a change to door locks to enhance security.
"One of the things that we did here at Franklin-McKinley, we changed our door locks so that anybody that has a school key can lock the door from inside even if it’s not their classroom or their office," Cruz said.
The district also tells students that if there is ever a danger on the playground, it's OK to run off campus to stay safe.
Many Bay Area schools have also tightened security by limiting how many points of entry people can use to get onto campus.
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Superintendents sent out emails to parents denouncing violence and telling them safety is a priority.
Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department said it will be increasing patrols at every school in the county and school districts will provide counseling for those who need it.
Processing this type of recurring school violence is one thing. Psychologists say it’s also important for parents to try not to show their fears and focus on listening to their children.
“You don’t want to re-traumatize them, you want to let them know you are, as the adult, doing what you need to do to secure their safety,” said Chilone Payton, a psychological facilitator.
