Students Still Fear Gunfire, CPS Working Had To Restore Sense Of Safety

Bernie Tafoya Reporting

CHICAGO (WBBM) -- The head of the Chicago Public Schools says everything is being done to improve attendance at a high school that saw a student shot to death earlier this month right outside the school’s doors. WBBM’s Bernie Tafoya reports.

Attendance at Crane High School on the West Side is poor somewhere just over 50-percent. It’s been that way since student Ruben Ivy was gunned down at the end of the school day on March 7th.

Since the students from the ABLA housing development especially have stayed away in droves for fear someone will retaliate against the because the suspected gunman came from their project.

"There’s been a huge commitment to improve safety to and from school which we’re very, very pleased with. Word of mouth is going to be real important. Students are going to hear that and see that and come back in," Schools CEO Arne Duncan said.

Special buses with police escorts have been shuttling students between Crane and the ABLA homes in the morning and afternoon and police have increased their presence at the school.

Duncan says he can understand the low attendance. He says some students at Crane are reacting as students did when tragedy struck recently at Northern Illinois University.

"It’s not just a safety issue. Psychological trauma of having a good friend really turned life around…wasn’t in trouble….see him shot and killed before your eyes. That takes a toll on anyone," Duncan said.

Duncan says he believes safety measures put in place since the shooting along with word-of-mouth from students who are going to school will bring up the attendance numbers at Crane High School.

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