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Counselors Provided At Bay Area Schools Following Connecticut Tragedy

SAN JOSE (KCBS) – At schools across the Bay Area and around the country, counselors are being made available for students in the wake of last week's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

At San Jose Unified School District, high school students said some teachers talked about the school shooting while others said nothing about it and went straight to administering finals.

San Jose Unified District spokesperson Paul Higgins said counselors are being made available if students - or anyone else – wants to talk.

KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:

"What we are doing in particular now is we have our crisis counselor teams prepared and ready to assist students, parents and staff with this tragedy," said Higgins.

Every school in San Jose Unified practices regular shelter-in-place drills. In fact, the most recent drill was held last Thursday, the day before the shooting in Connecticut.

"Our students pretty much know that they are safe here," said Anacelia Rocha, principal at Trace Elementary.

Connecticut Elementary School Massacre:

Rocha said she is instructing her teachers to not talk about the tragedy, but if asked, to reassure students.

"If students have questions, our teachers know that we have procedures in place here in San Jose Unified to make sure they are safe," she said.

Over the weekend, district officials sent out a message to parents reassuring them about campus safety.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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