DISD superintendent addresses student safety concerns after security breach
Student safety was at the top of the discussion during a planned meeting Tuesday night between parents and Dallas ISD Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa.
The meeting was held at Kimball High School in west Oak Cliff where there was an incident Monday involving a student with a gun. Police say a security breach led to a student accidentally shooting himself.
Several dozen parents went to the meeting that was scheduled long before Monday's shooting incident. Dr. Michael Hinojosa opened with an apology for it.
"You'll forgive us for a lot of things, but you won't forgive us if something bad happens to your student physically,” the superintendent said. “So my apologies for what happened here"
DISD says there was a security breach. The student went through the metal detector and triggered it but because he was with a parent he was ushered through.
When the 15-year-old had finished the conference, his parent had left and he was back in class about 10:30 in the morning when he somehow managed to shoot himself in the hand and the leg.
The single shot derringer is visible in a photo posted on Twitter. His injuries were not serious. The school was locked down for a brief time.
"We are evaluating every procedure what we found in yesterday's situation,” said Hinojosa. “We found some systems errors and we found some human errors."
Before meeting with parents, Hinojosa told reporters there are video clips from inside the school that day that have been turned over to police.
“The fact that the student was with the parent when they came to school gave us some information that gave us some pause and required us to go back and review our procedures,” said Hinojosa.
Parents we talked to seemed generally satisfied with DISD's response.
"I think the school districts are doing what they can,” said parent Armando Garay. “But maybe they need to look at investing a little less in administrators and a little more in the safety of our kids."