Inside: Kingston schools offer counseling to students and staff
School district Superintendent Paul Padalino on Friday said the district responded early in the morning with counseling for students, teachers and families after a 12-yearold girl was killed and a 9-year-old boy was injured in a shooting incident on Thursday night.
“We started that in morning lead by our crisis management team,” he said.
“We activated our hotline and communicated that out to families,” Padalino said. “Our social workers, our counselors, and our crisis management team are manning that hotline and they can either speak with students on the phone or families on the phone. We are also making appointments for students who want to come in and talk to someone .”
Names of the 12-year-old girl in the seventh grade at Bailey Middle School and an 8-year-old boy in the fourth grade at George Washington Elementary School were not released.
Padalino noted that the remote learning aspect of classes was part of the work done on Friday, with additional plans being made for when students return to buildings for Jan. 4 classes.
“We sent some of our counselors to some of our
community- based organizations that provide remote learning at daycare for children who were in that class, in that grade, or in that school,” he said.
“It’s much different than if we were in school and a student could just walk down the hall and see a guidance counselor,” Padalino said. “We’re trying to make sure that’s well (known) to parents, students, teachers and administrators or anybody who needs to speak. I think a lot of people are deeply affected by the events of last evening.”