Bay Area Technology School holds meeting for parents days after shooting
(KRON) — Days after a shooting took place on campus, the Bay Area Technology School held a meeting for parents Monday night.
It was an opportunity for them to ask questions and find out what’s next for the school, which has been closed since the shooting last Wednesday. The executive director of the school repeatedly said that he wanted to be as transparent as possible, so he spent hours answering questions written by parents.
Oakland Police Chief Leronne Armstrong was in attendance and parents asked him for answers as well. On the same day that video was released showing the moment at least two people fired rounds on the school’s campus, parents finally got some answers about what will happen at the school going forward.
“We are still having ‘Back-to-School Night’ next week, because at some point we’re going to be back to school,” said Bay Area Technology School Executive Director, Dr. Seth Feldman. He laid out some of the plans, including canceling next week’s report cards, new drop-off procedures and closing off the school to neighboring schools that share the same campus.
After Dr. Feldman finished his prepared remarks, he took written questions from parents. Most of the questions he received were about what happened when he called 911.
“I want to be honest. I was put on hold when I called 911,” said Dr. Feldman. In response to Dr. Feldman, Oakland Police Chief Leronne Armstrong said it is standard practice to put someone on hold when there is a large volume of calls coming in, like when the shooting happened on Wednesday.
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Chief Armstrong also said that his officers will continue to be present at the school. “We’ll be supporting the administration until the school no longer feels we need to be here,” said Chief Armstrong.
Another question that parents asked Chief Armstrong about was if there were messages sent asking people not to talk to police. “We are investigating text messages that may have been sent by someone asking people not to cooperate but at this point we’re not able to confirm the validity of it,” said Chief Armstrong.
Parents were also concerned about the lack of armed security guards on campus. Dr. Feldman said that is up to the Oakland Unified School District. “We are not allowed to have a school officer. We are not allowed to have armed security on campus. If I was allowed to have armed security on campus, we would have armed security on campus,” said Dr. Feldman.
The Bay Area Technology School is expected to re-open next Monday, according to the school principal.
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