School employee fired after "Sandy Hook talk" with kids
NEW YORK - An after-school program supervisor in Long Island has been fired after she explained the Newtown, Conn., Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to children during a lockdown drill, reports CBS New York.
Gigi Kearns - a former NYPD officer - ran an after-school program for SCOPE Education Services of Suffolk County in New York.
The station reports that Kearn - who worked as a supervisor for the past 15 years at Dickinson Elementary School in East Northport - was asked to run a new lockdown safety drill ordered by SCOPE at the school for 30 children, grades 2 to 5.
Kearns told CBS New York that during the drill, one of the kids started laughing and shouted, "We are doing this drill because of Sandy Hook."
She said that when one of the children asked, "What is Sandy Hook?," she calmly and sensitively explained the December 2012 shooting that left 20 children and 6 adult staff members dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The shooter - 20-year-old Adam Lanza - killed himself as police closed in on the building.
According to CBS New York, at least one parent was furious that Kearns showed photos of the scene to the children, including pictures of crying parents and the shooter.
The parent said the children should be shielded from the truth, reports the station.
But Kearns defends her actions, saying, "I started showing them how I would protect them if anything happened. I think that is what they gravitated towards. There was no fear involved."
SCOPE, however, has decided to terminate Kearns in wake of the incident, citing what they referred to as poor judgment on her part.
"We are aware of concerns of parents. All decisions are made in best interest of children attending our programs," the organization said in a statement, adding that it stands by its decision.
Dozens of parents have since started a Change.org petition asking for Kearns' job to be reinstated.