The recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas has seen officials in not only Texas but places close to home respond to the shooting. Officials from Highland County are no different.

Paulette Donley, the chair of the Highland County Republican Party, said that individually she is pretty upset and finds it “abhorrent” that anyone would take the lives of that many children or anyone at all.

However, she said that as a political party at the local event, she doesn’t think it is a political issue.

“We are very, very sorry it happened. We had a meeting (shortly after the latest shooting) and a moment of silence and prayer for the nation the families impacted,” Donley said. “As a party locally, we aren’t making it a political event. It’s just a tragic thing that happened.

“Individually, I think we each should do something. We just need to get down on our knees as a nation and hope we can help with some of this.”

Quincy Gray, superintendent of Greenfield Exempted Village School District, said, “Our district is deeply saddened by the school shooting at Robb Elementary School. Knowing how we love and care for our own students, their pain and suffering are just unimaginable. Those impacted directly by the tragedy are in our thoughts.”

Concerning ways the school district tries to make sure a similar event doesn’t happen at one of its facilities, she said the school district holds regularly scheduled drills with law enforcement and fire and emergency service agencies. Gray said the district also does threat assessments for each building to find possible security needs that it might not recognize.

“Although we feel good about the security measures put into place over the last five years, there is always room for growth and continued education,” she said. “Being prepared for what might happen is critical for the safety of our students and staff members.”

Several other Highland County school and public officials did not respond to calls and/or emails for comment.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.