In the wake of the horrible tragedy that occurred in Connecticut, I feel it is important to address what I feel this means for Lafayette and the other Rockwood Schools.

It seems that 2012 was an eye opening year for public safety and gun violence.

It seemed almost every month a story came out about an attack on a public place with a gun of some sort. Investigations took place and an overall criticism was made about what could have been done differently.

The most recent and one of the more gruesome tragedies occurring at Sandy Hook Elementary School taking the lives of 27 people, 20 of which were children.

The only thing that was semi-decent that came out of this absolutely horrible tragedy is the awareness it caused. Schools across the country are now realizing that their security systems are outdated or possibly even nonexistent.

Rockwood handled the situation perfectly by sending out a newsletter and an automated phone call to each student’s home detailing how Rockwood feels about the tragedy and the measures they will take in order to ensure the safety of all students.

Many may have thought that the Sandy Hook tragedy only affected the Rockwood community emotionally, but it will do much more than that.

What happened on Dec. 14, 2012 opened the eyes of everyone to the dangers this world is subjected to.

Rockwood School District has already done half of the job at hand by communicating about what they plan on doing to make sure everyone feels safe at all times while in school.

The second half of the plan is now the most important and most difficult: acting on what they said.

They can say all they want about how their goal is for the well being of those attending Rockwood Schools five days a week, but nothing will change unless the district acts upon it. Making the necessary changes to the district’s schools is necessary for the well being of everyone.

If in any way the budget crisis Rockwood is facing right now gets in the way of making these changes, I will not be afraid to call the district and those in charge of the budget idiotic and cheap.

Making the necessary security improvements to the school should be number one on the Board of Education’s list to do. And it is the job of the students, parents and staff members of the district to make sure that is exactly what happens.