‘We can’t let what happened conquer us’: Staff at San Bernardino school urge return after gun attack

Looking to heal from this week’s deadly shooting inside a San Bernardino classroom, North Park Elementary staff have asked district officials to be allowed to return to campus and carry on with the school year.

Teacher Joyella Beuler told San Bernardino City Unified School District members at a special meeting Wednesday night they had a plan to move students who used the classroom where the shooting occurred to another space on campus. She also requested locks be placed on classroom doors throughout the school, which is closed this week.

“It is important that our entire school community be able to heal together our school,” said Beuler, who stood alongside a group of educators from North Park. “We can’t let what happened conquer us. We need to conquer it and we will. We believe that Karen would want us to carry on at North Park and she is forever with us.”

Beuler’s pleas came days after she and fellow educators scrambled to get their students to safety Monday when a gunman entered the North Park classroom and opened fire on special education instructor Karen Smith and two other students.

The gunman was Smith’s estranged husband, Cedric Anderson. An employee at the school saw Anderson and recognized him as Smith’s husband. She asked him to sign in and allowed him to walk unescorted to Smith’s classroom.

Once inside, he fired 10 shots, stopping once to reload, and then shot himself.

Smith, 53, was killed. Two students were struck by gunfire. Jonathan Martinez, an 8-year-old boy with Williams Syndrome, was airlifted to a nearby hospital but died before entering surgery. Nolan Brandy, 9, was also hospitalized and is in stable condition.

District Supt. Dale Marsden said he met with Nolan on Wednesday and “touched his cheeks and saw a beautiful smile.” He said Nolan could be released from the hospital this weekend.

“He’s doing great,” Marsden said. “We are so grateful to see he and his family in very, very good spirits.”

Marsden said he received a call from Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos this week, saying “they stand ready to provide support.”

District officials planned to meet with North Park students and their parents on Thursday to talk about the idea of returning to school Monday. Parents of students who were taught by Smith had also expressed a desire for their children to come together and talk about how they are coping, he said.

“We will go through these things the rest of our lives,” Marsden said. “None of us will be the same.”

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

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