JoCo parents want classroom doors installed at open-concept elementary school

LENEXA, Kan. - On the one-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, Johnson County parents voiced concerns about their children's safety at one local school.

At a Shawnee Mission School Board meeting Monday night, parents asked that classroom doors be installed at Rising Star Elementary School.

The open-concept school was built in 1990, with classes separated into pods. Concerned parents and teachers requested the district devise a plan to install 26 doors, which they say will protect the lives of the 600 students at the school daily.

"After the recent events of Sandy Hook Elementary School, the joy I once felt dropping my children off at school has now changed to concern," Jamie Boardman explained. "To my knowledge, Rising Star is the only remaining school that has an open concept and does not have doors on the classrooms."

Third grade teacher Jori Nelson gave a 13-minute demonstration to show what could happen in the event of a school shooting.

"Theoretically, we could see 130 students in a pod this size. This is not safe, it is not secure," she said.

Nelson also presented the school board with a petition signed by her fellow teachers asking only one thing: "Give us our first line of defense to protect our children and staff."

District officials said they couldn't give any specifics yet, but they are looking at options to add classroom doors.