CLEVELAND, Ohio — John Adams College and Career Academy was closed Thursday due to staff absences according to Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The school was also closed Wednesday after 18-year-old student Pierre McCoy was tragically shot and killed while waiting for an RTA bus outside the high school Tuesday afternoon.
"We are urging the school not to just jump back into academics but really focus on relationships, rituals and routines," CMSD CEO Eric Gordon said on Thursday night.
Gordon addressed the district's response to the shooting during a live social media Q&A.
"The bus that this student was waiting for actually comes about 50 minutes after school and so that leaves a long time for students outside of school," Gordon said. 'So we're working with RTA to see if we cant get those routes adjusted so that the busses are coming to the school much more close to dismissal as another preventative measure."
Gordon said Cleveland police now have access to cameras at John Adams, John F. Kennedy and they will include all high schools soon, a plan that he said was in place before the tragic shooting.
"We have to stay very clearly focused on the safety measures inside the school and we have to as a city, have a community response to a real crisis going on in this city with gun violence, particularly among juveniles and young adults," Gordon said.
Gordon said grief counselors reached out to all staff members who called off Thursday and the administration checked on other faculty in the building as well.
Some teachers told 3News their feelings on how the incident was handled are being ignored. Also, they don't believe the district is seeking long-term preventative measures to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.
Gordon said this is the third time a student has been shot and killed near a CMSD school since the beginning of the year.
In August 16-year-old Devonte Johnson was fatally shot near Glenville High School. Then in September 16-year-old Andre D. Wells was fatally shot near James Ford Rhodes High School.
John Adams will reopen on Friday and Gordon said there will be an increased police presence throughout the rest of the school year.
"We have been coordinating with RTA police and CPD and there will be increased presence particularly at John Adams not just in the coming days but through the balance of this year," Gordon said.
Grief counselors and psychologists will be available Friday for students, families and staff.
You can watch Gordon's "Talk to the CEO" event in the player below: