Two weeks after three students and a teacher were fatally shot at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, more than 86% of families want their children to return to the school, according to a survey from Bend-La Pine Schools.

The survey results come after classes resumed for thousands of students in the district last Wednesday. Silver Rail will remain closed through Nov. 6. A reopening date will depend on “completing repairs and meeting all applicable safety codes, including Fire Marshal requirements for exit doors,” the district wrote online.

The district asked Silver Rail parents to fill out a return-to-school survey this week and solicited feedback from staff as it considered next steps for Silver Rail.

Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook told OPB’s “Think Out Loud” the district’s survey asked families whether they wanted their kids to return to Silver Rail, transfer to a different school or explore online options. Results released by the district show that 86.2% of parents want their children to return to Silver Rail. The survey responses indicate that some parents still do not feel comfortable returning their children to Silver Rail. The district said parents can request a school transfer.

According to survey results released by the district, families wanted more support for child care, food, family leave, children’s mental health and community activities for kids.

But it still isn’t clear what those resources — and possible safety and security changes — will ultimately be.

“I think at this point, we haven’t taken anything off the table,” Cook said. “There’s not a bucket of resources that the district has not chosen to dig into to support safety in our schools at this point.”

He said measures like installing razor wire on fences and implementing metal detectors in schools “are part of the conversation,” but that it would be up to the school board to decide. Cook indicated the district could also seek grants and emergency funds for immediate needs, such as counseling services.

Cook responded to an open letter sent to state and local leaders last week by a father in the district. The letter from Kurt Hopfer called for an armed law enforcement officer to be stationed at every Bend-La Pine school throughout the school day at least until the end of this school year.

“It’s a tough conversation,” Cook told OPB.

Like many school districts in Oregon, Bend-La Pine has a limited number of school resource officers who provide security across numerous school buildings. Bend-La Pine has 33 schools and eight school resource officers.

Cook told OPB that having officers at every school would be a “large ask.”

“And it’s not just a resource ask, it’s a viability ask. ... The scaling that would take to meet the needs of that request is a large, large consideration.”

According to Cook, Bend-La Pine Schools is facing a roughly $9 million gap in funding to support its “highest-needs” students through disability funding.

On Oct. 15, the 16-year-old shooter — who previously attended Silver Rail as a special education student — opened fire on a special education classroom.

In Oregon, special education funding is capped at 11% of the total student population, even if more students qualify for services.

“That’s a real issue,” Cook said. “That’s a conversation that I don’t believe at any point in time we can avoid, and it’s definitely something our community is going to want to talk to us about.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/27/silver-rail-shooting-survey-86-percent-families-want-to-return/