PARKLAND, FLA. (WSVN) - Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie has announced that Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will reopen for students on Wednesday.
Students will be on a modified schedule from 7:40 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. during the first few days of classes so they can readjust to the school. Teachers began returning to the school, Friday.
“They’re consoling each other,” said Runcie. “You know, it’s a difficult moment for them. Many of them, it’s the first time they’ve been back in the school, so we’re trying to just work with them to get them through it.”
Runcie also said an open orientation will take place on Sunday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. for parents and students to ask questions about the reopening.
The superintendent also noted that the county will transfer any student that doesn’t want to return to Stoneman Douglas to another school.
The school has been closed since Feb. 14, when a gunman opened fire and killed 17 people and injured 14 others at the school.
School Resource Officers armed with assault rifles will also be present at the school as a precaution.
Runcie took the time to say that he does not agree with having armed teachers in school and spoke on the revelation that the one armed resource officer at Stoneman Douglas never entered the school during the shooting.
“I’m extremely upset, outraged. It’s inexcusable. I was happy to see that the sheriff dealt with it swiftly,” Runcie said. “He called me yesterday before his press announcement to let me know of his findings and what had occurred. It’s just outrageous. I wish he had the same kind of courage that our teachers that have shown up here today to be with their kids.”
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