GERMANTOWN, Wis. — It was day one of getting back to some sense of normalcy.
“This is my grandson,” grandmother Chris Wanke proudly shared. “We were just talking about how cool and lucky he is that grandma gets to take him to school.”
Her grandson Parker said he felt good about going back to school.
However, one mom we spoke with, Robin Wagler, said the conversations on the way to school Wednesday morning were still a little different from the rest.
“I talked with him about it but I didn’t go full into depth because he’s only in kindergarten but I said hey buddy, there was a little bit of a situation at the middle school,” Wagler said. “You’re safe to go to school though. I mean you’re in really good hands with Mr. Mom and he loves his teachers so he took it really well.”
Most students headed back to class but Kennedy Middle School remained closed as investigators continued looking into Monday night's officer-involved shooting.
Wagler said although the incident didn’t happen at her son's school, just the idea of a school safety threat happening anywhere at all has been a battle for quite some time now.
“It has been a concern for me, I mean to the point where like I take photos of my sons every day before school,” Wagler said as she held back tears. “I get really nervous. I didn’t think I’d get emotional.”
Wagler said the goodbye during drop-off on Wednesday was tough but she couldn’t be more pleased with how the Germantown School District kept her informed during the incident.
“I mean we were updated greatly between the emails and the phone calls; it was handled really well,” Wagler said.
Others said they’re happy to see that that same level of communication and protection continued at the schools for the first day back since the shooting.
“We saw the police officer there who’s watching out for our safety and we’re happy to have our officers,” Wanke said.
Wanke’s hope is that it won’t be long before her grandson and all students are back in their schools.
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