Monday, McKinney ISD says it will have extra counselors and security available for students returning to school following an on campus suicide by a student on Friday. McKinney Police say a student at McKinney North High School used a gun to commit suicide inside an empty classroom Friday morning. No one else was hurt.
Hours after the shooting, parents of a junior at McKinney North formed a group on Facebook called McKinney Parents and Students for Metal Detectors. Melody Timmons said the group has one specific goal: to have metal detectors and wands installed at school entrances to make it harder for a gun to be brought on campus.
"The main thing that's in my mind is these guns are on school campuses with my kid," Timmons said.
"Mental health and depression and bullying and all of these different areas are very important to focus on," Timmons added. "But I think metal detectors and wands are something we can do."
Tara Dinello, another parent in the group, has younger kids -- in the seventh and third grades. She said the incident on Friday made her question if more could be done to beef up security at all schools.
"If we go to any sporting event, if we go to anything like an airport then we're going to be checked and there's a reason for that," Dinello said. "It should be the same for our kids."
The group said metal detectors should be part of the security plan which already includes surveillance systems and school resource officers. McKinney North has two officers on campus.
The group is researching metal detectors and manpower costs with plans to bring their concerns to the June 26 meeting of the McKinney ISD board of trustees.
"If it takes six months, or a year, or a year and a half I plan on staying with it until the change happens," said Laurie Keck, a mother of two students in McKinney schools.
"I think we have a really good group and there's a lot of people bringing a lot of good information to the table," Timmons said.
Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott unveiled a new school safety proposal in response to the Santa Fe school shooting. The plan includes metal detectors in more schools.
