MADISON — State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly released the following statement regarding the shooting and lockdown earlier today in Mount Horeb.
“My heart broke today with the news of the shooting and death outside of Mount Horeb Middle School. I’m sad for the great sense of anxiety and trauma caused for students, school staff, and the community, and all of us at the Department of Public Instruction stand ready to help in any way we can.
“Our schools should be welcoming places for all students, and they must be safe places for all students and staff.
“I want to especially thank the community’s school staff and first responders for your quick action that likely saved lives. I am so thankful for law enforcement, medical personnel, and district personnel in responding quickly and ensuring the safety of our students.
“I also want to recognize how forthcoming the school district was with information, keeping the community up to date and giving confidence students were being kept safe. Thank you to Superintendent Steve Salerno and all the district’s educators and leaders.”
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is sharing these publicly available resources for schools, educators, and families, to help process and navigate this moment.
- The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has a one-page resource intended for families to help process grief and traumatic events.
- The DPI’s Student Services/Prevention and Wellness team has a dedicated webpage with content related to school safety and crisis response.
- The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety (OSS) has resources to support recovery after schools are impacted by or exposed to a crisis event.
- The OSS provides free consultation, best practice guidance, a vast resource library of handouts & communication templates, intervention recommendations, and local Critical Incident Response team deployment upon request.
- Interventions are evidence-based and tailored to the needs of the school community. You can request OSS crisis response and recovery support by contacting OSS at 1-800-MY-SUSO-1 (1-800-697-8761), or by emailing them at schoolsafety@doj.state.wi.us 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
NOTE: A headshot for publication of Dr. Underly can be found on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s website.
