Final tour of Stoneman Douglas shooting site has concluded. Here’s why there won’t be more.

South Florida Sun Sentinel | By Scott Travis | October 16, 2023

The Broward School District hosted what is likely its final tour Saturday of the building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where a former student shot 17 people to death and wounded 17 others on Valentine’s Day 2018.

The visit by a group of 220 lawmakers, school district officials and advocates in 25 states, was the latest in at least a dozen tours that have happened since this summer, when the Broward School District regained control of the building. For more than five years, the building was off-limits as the State Attorney’s Office maintained it as evidence for two criminal trials.

Previous group tours have included families of victims, Broward School Board members, state legislators, members of Congress and law enforcement and safety experts.

There were preliminary plans this summer to demolish the building shortly after Aug. 4, when two separate events happened: a morning tour by members of Congress and an afternoon re-enactment of gunfire for a civil trial.

But that day, U.S. Rep Jared Moskowitz of Parkland said School Board Chairwoman Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter was killed at Stoneman Douglas, agreed they wanted more lawmakers to see it.

“After walking through the building, there’s value in giving it a little more time to bring decision makers through that building,” Moskowitz said Aug. 4. School district officials also determined it would be disruptive to tear down the building during the school year when students are on campus.

The school district announced last month that the 1200 Building would be demolished next summer. And while that leaves plenty of time for more visits, Superintendent Peter Licata has decided they won’t be happening.

“Every time there is a visit of the 1200 building, it does cause potential disruptions either to the learning environment or activities happening after school or on weekends,” district spokesman John Sullivan told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

He said it also uses district resources, including overtime or compensatory time for security and other staff.

Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex Schachter was killed in the massacre, led Saturday’s tour. “I wanted to have as many people, leaders of school districts around the country, to come to the building and understand the failures and lessons learned,” he said.

People from 25 states, including school board members, superintendents and national Parent Teacher Association members, went on the tour to see how they could make schools safer, WFOR-TV reported.

In July, families of the victims were allowed to go inside the locked building. Members of Congress were among those who toured it in August.

Classes have long-since resumed at the Stoneman Douglas campus while the building with bullet-riddled and blood-splattered walls remained locked off. Community members have been calling for its demolition for years, but prosecutors said they needed to preserve it as evidence for the shooter’s murder trial.

On Feb. 14, 2018, former student Nikolas Cruz went with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle to the campus, where he killed 14 students and three staff members and wounded 17 other people. He pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced last year to life in prison.

Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter Gina Montalto was shot to death, has been president of Stand with Parkland, which represents most of the victims’ families. He said Saturday that the school should have had stronger doors with bullet-resistant glass.

Chris Hixon, the school’s athletic director and wrestling coach, was killed when he ran toward Cruz and tried to stop the shooting. His widow, Debbi Hixon, said safety measures could have saved lives.

“To really know the true story, to see what actually happened, and to know what the failures were is really the point of being able to go through that building,” she said Saturday.