KILLEEN, Texas — Thursday night, parents and community members came together for a townhall meeting to discuss ways to combat that violence. The meeting was organized by Killeen ISD PTA council and was held at Grace Deliverance Church.
KISD Police Chief Disher, Superintendent John Craft and KISD Board President Joanna Purser were in attendance to talk about solutions to violence in schools.
There have been 15 assaults on Killeen ISD campuses this fall, according to Disher.
“It is something that seems to be taking over the nation. It is not just here in Killeen,” said KISD PTA Council President Trina Thompson. “We are just very interested in being able to get in and kind of draw the parents, the stakeholders, and the district together to be able to come up with some solutions to curb the violence here."
At Thursday’s meeting parents and school officials came up with two solutions with on being monthly newsletters sent out about violent activities going on in schools.
“I think that is very important,” said KISD parent Sondra Wilkerson, “For one, transparency is key. We as parents need to know what is going on. So to have it on the website, I think it is important we can get the information and we are informed as parents."
Their second solution was to get more men from the community to volunteer on campus and work with KISD police to help build better relationships with students.
"These are the kids who are going to lead this community later, so if we don’t help them understand how to grow their community, how to understand that community then all of this falls by the wayside,” said Thompson.
Killeen ISD PTA Council said it will have town hall style meetings monthly.