KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Public Schools went on with summer classes as normal Wednesday.
Several other districts in the Kansas City area decided to shut down school for the day after a 19-year-old Blue Springs man allegedly made threats of mass murder on Snapchat.
Jason Roberts, president of the Kansas City Federation of Teachers, supports the district's decision to have classes.
"The district decided today that the threat did not merit closing down school, and I'm glad they made that decision," Roberts said.
Roberts said he's glad the district did not make a decision to shut down based on fear.
"To buy into a threat that something might potentially, one day, at some point, happen — and so we automatically go into shut down mode," Roberts said. "[It] Only really perpetrates in the future, 'Let's make a threat to shut down school.'"
Roberts said he applauds the way KCPS takes student and staff safety.
"I've worked in our secondary schools for over a decade, and I've seen the caliber of security that we hire, and the district really does a good job at doing everything they can," Roberts said.
When asked how teachers feel about their safety in light of recent mass shootings, such as the one at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, Roberts said it runs the gamut.
"I think there is a sense that when you go into the field of education this is now sort of part of your job, it is some thing you are used to, it is a sad reality, it really is," Roberts said.
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