Santa Clarita community members and students have rallied together to try to convince lawmakers and the district to remodel the Saugus High School quad after the tragedy last year.

Monday night, community member James Kelleher made a post in a social media group titled, “Remodel the Quad at Saugus High School.” The idea would be to remodel the quad, where the deadly shooting last November occurred.

Kelleher mentions that students constantly have to “walk through their pain” and have to “see where their life changed” on a daily basis.

Parents in the group mention how their children are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) every day. One parent mentioning how evident it was after last Friday when a cart on campus ran over an item that made a loud popping noise, sending students fleeing the school, thinking there was another attack.

Psychiatrist Larry Schallert, assistant director of the College of the Canyons Student Health and Wellness Center, mentions that events like this in a student’s life can “last many years, five years and longer for some,” and that students reacting in such a way to a noise is “like when a veteran comes back from a war zone. It’s a traumatic stress reaction.”

Schallert also mentions that the idea to remodel the quad is a “good idea in the sense that we know people who have gone through trauma can be triggered by things they see” and that changing the look could “decrease the triggers” for both the current and future students and staff members.

Over the course of three days, the post has caught the eye of many community members, including Assemblywoman Christy Smith, D-Santa Clarita.

Smith answers the post directly, stating, “The district is working with the WiSH Education Foundation to facilitate the project” and that she is “happy to help” in any way to be sure the students of Saugus can heal.

The idea behind remodeling the quad stemmed from other schools that were targets of school shootings. Schools like Columbine High School, where 12 students and one teacher were killed in 1999, have spent more than $1.2 million on repairs. They even changed the sound of the alarms that went off for hours during the attack.

Following the 2012 shooting that took 20 children and six staff member’s lives, Sandy Hook Elementary School conducted a vote which resulted in the idea of tearing down the school and building a new one.

At the moment, there are many different ideas being tossed around for Saugus High School. Many community members have mentioned possible plans based on what other schools have done.

William S. Hart Union School District Governing Board President Linda Storli agrees with local psychologists, saying “to make it look totally different” and that “painting it blue and adding stars” or just “something to make it not look like it did before” would be beneficial for students.

Storli plans on bringing the idea up at the next Hart District board meeting.

For comments or concerns regarding this project, it is asked that community members call the William S. Hart School District at 661-259-0033.

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