photo by: Sara Shepherd

Lawrence police investigate at the scene of a double shooting on Friday, March 29, 2019, at Holcom Park, in the parking lot at 26th Street and Lawrence Avenue.

Updated at 12:30 p.m. Monday

After two Lawrence High School students were shot Friday at Holcom Park, the Lawrence school district in a districtwide email Sunday shared plans to improve security and said staff would research topics such as clear backpacks and metal detectors.

Two brothers who attend LHS, ages 16 and 18, were seriously injured in the shooting on Friday afternoon, according to Lawrence police and a district email to the LHS staff and families. Police have arrested two 17-year-old Topeka boys in connection with the shooting.

One of the boys arrested in connection with the shooting, Benson J. Edwards Jr., attended Lawrence schools on and off at the elementary and middle school levels and was consistently enrolled at LHS from Aug. 17, 2016, through Jan. 28 of this year, district spokeswoman Julie Boyle said via email Monday.

The shooting follows three separate incidents in February in which students brought a weapon to LHS — two loaded guns and one Taser. In response, the district held two community conversations on public safety. The first, on Feb. 21 at LHS, drew a crowd that the district estimated at 300; the second, held March 26 at Free State High School, drew about 50.

The email to the LHS community and to the district at large, sent from Boyle Sunday evening and shared with the Journal-World Monday morning, lists some short- and long-term plans as a result of the feedback administrators received at the two meetings. Boyle told the Journal-World in an email Monday that the plans had been announced at the FSHS community conversation last Tuesday.

According to Boyle’s email, some of the immediate plans include:

• Conducting a Homeland Security facilities audit.

“In 2014, the district invited a representative from the Department of Homeland Security to tour all of our schools with our director of administrative services and provide guidance about areas of improvement related to safety and security,” Boyle said in an email response to follow-up questions from the Journal-World. “We plan to do this again for all schools. While we will continue to share general information about school safety improvements, we would not share the audit publicly because it could contain sensitive information about school safety and security.”

• Continuing to “emphasize personal relationships and caring adult connections at school.”

• Adding texting to the district notification system.

• Promoting mental health teams and safety reporting tools in middle and high schools.

• Examining inventory of radios for quality and consistency.

The district will also research and discuss high school student access IDs; clear backpacks and the effectiveness of metal detectors; safety of open lunch; prevention measures and early warning signs at elementary and middle school levels; causes of recent weapons events; security measures as part of school construction projects; safety and suicide prevention apps and text hotlines; and crisis plans, educating staff and families “of safety drills, including lockdown vs. lock-out procedures,” the email says.

Boyle also wrote that the LHS mental health team and crisis support team members would be available for students as needed on Monday.

In her email response to the Journal-World Monday, Boyle wrote that she had sent the same email, excepting minor changes specific to the LHS community, to all district families. She said schools and district staff would continue to keep staff and school families informed of safety planning and improvements. She is not aware of another community conversation being scheduled at this time, she said.

The district is in the process of updating its website at usd497.org/safety with the feedback gathered at the LHS and FSHS community conversations, Boyle said.

The district has also added a “Contact Us” feature, aka “All Students Safe,” to its main website, and it will allow anyone to submit questions or concerns. Boyle said it is one of the district’s safety improvements. It will be monitored during school hours Mondays through Fridays, Boyle wrote. The form can be submitted anonymously, but the district will respond within 48 hours if contact information is included.