ARLINGTON, Texas — After parents complained of long waits to reunite with their children following a deadly shooting at Arlington's Bowie High School in April, a report from the district indicates a six to eight-hour wait is to be expected and is "within industry standards."
The After Action report, obtained by WFAA through a public records request, outlines what went well and what the district is seeking to improve following the April 24 shooting. It indicated issues with district radios, teachers and staff leaving before everyone was helped and communication problems between the district and Arlington Police.
The shooting happened just before school dismissal around 2:50 in the afternoon. Police charged Julian Howard, 17, with murdering Etavion Barnes, 18, just outside one of the portable classrooms on campus. Howard was arrested and held on a $750,000 bond, police said at the time.
The After Action report did not examine the shooting itself -- just the district's response.
On the day of the shooting, the district told parents and guardians of the school's 2,247 students to pick up their children at the Arlington ISD Athletics Complex about seven miles from the high school. When parents arrived, many waited hours in line to be able to hug their children and take them home.
"Overall I think it went well," said Arlington ISD Chief Operations Officer Michael Hill. "It could’ve gone a little bit faster I believe."
But Hill said a six to eight-hour wait is to be expected before all kids are released, given all the intricacies of safety considerations in the aftermath of a shooting. He said students and staff must remain on lockdown until police officers secure the shooting scene and clear every room of the school building. Only then can they leave to get on buses and head to the re-unification center, where a handoff procedure to guardians begins.
"Unfortunately I would rather err on the side of caution and take that time to make sure that scene is secured before we start moving students and staff through the building," he said.
Hill said other issues flagged in the report were not problems or have been resolved -- district radios, for example, were not all aligned on the same channel. The issue has been fixed, he said.
The report said "admin staff didn't stay the whole time so as night wore on [sic], less hands to help." and "not many teachers stayed to help with their kids."
Hill said this was by design: "When the student count starts to decrease, we want the staff to decrease as well."
The report said APD didn't know who was in charge of the reunification and didn't have clear communication of the chain of command. Hill said Arlington ISD works hand-in-hand with the department on planning for incidents like this shooting.
"This is the one thing that I wish would be the biggest waste of our time, that we would never have to use," Hill said. "But unfortunately we’ve had to use it. And I would much rather be prepared than not be prepared."
The after-action report did identify some parts of the district's response that went well. The reunification site, availability of Spanish speakers, staff teamwork and custodial team all were named as successes. "Looks of relief on parents' faces when they saw their kids" was named as a success as well.
"Ultimately, we’re trying to get every kid back safe," Hill said. "If that takes a little bit longer, not ideal, but in the scheme of things and at the end of the day if that kid is reunified with their parent safely, that’s ultimately what we’re looking for."
You can view the full report here.