The Atlanta school district will increase security around high school football games after a student was shot after a game last weekend.
District police officers will now escort teams and bands traveling to and from home and away games. Officers will also be stationed at school parking lots where parents are waiting to pick up students and at parking lots when teams and bands return.
“Throughout the district, our kids and families should never worry about being safe at school or at a school-sponsored event … during the school day or at any time,” Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said in a written statement. “Our children shouldn’t have to look over their shoulder when they are in their communities.”
The changes come after a student was shot in the Mays High School parking lot last weekend shortly after a football game at the Georgia Dome. The student is recovering and hopes to return to school soon, district spokeswoman Pat St. Claire said.
And they come a year after a shooting outside the Grady-Carver game wounded a student and a woman driving nearby.
That shooting also prompted the school district to increase security around games.
