Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 14 students and three teachers were killed on Feb. 14, in Parkland, Florida will remained closed through Wednesday, but students are not likely to return until next week.
According to Local 10 ABC, the roads around the school reopened on Sunday and the FBI returned the campus to Broward County school officials.
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However, authorities are still investigation the shooting, which happened inside the freshman building. That building itself will remain closed, but officials have not said where students will have their classes in the meantime. About a third of the student body had classes in the building, reports the Miami Herald.
The school will not re-open until Thursday, Feb. 22 at the earliest. The school would be closed anyway on Monday for Presidents’ Day, and will continue to be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Staff will be allowed back before the end of the week, but students will not be back until Monday, Feb. 26.
“Our hearts remain with the victims and families impacted by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy. Across our community, the difficult and emotional recovery process continues, as we struggle to understand this senseless act of violence and find a way to move forward,” Broward County Public Schools said in a press release on Saturday.
“I promise you, I will hug each and every one of you as many times as you need and I will hold you as long as you need me to, for all 3,300 of you and your families and we will get through this together,” principal Ty Thompson said in a YouTube statement Saturday. “Our community is strong. Our students are strong. We will persevere in these trying times.”
On Friday, the Sun Sentinel reported that the school district has proposed demolishing the freshman building, as superintendent Robert Runcie has said parents and students told him they can no longer go into the building.
“Parents and students have resoundingly told me they can’t go back into that building regardless of what we do,” Runcie explained. “The other piece I heard is that that building will be used as evidence in any type of legal process that goes forward, so we won’t be able to access the building for a while anyway.”
Any proposal would have to be approved by the state and school board, and additional funding would be needed. The plan would also include a memorial for the 17 people who were killed.
The shooter, former Stoneman Douglas student Nikolas Cruz, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
