Santa Barbara schools react to Texas shooting

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Dr. Hilda Maldonado, Santa Barbara unified school district,superintendent 

"I can not imagine how unbelievably painful and horrific this has been," said superintendent Dr. Hilda Maldonado of the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

Maldonado is also a mother who was shocked by the deadly shooting in Texas.

"It hit home because it makes you really think about our schools … our safety plans …the adults there to care for our children … have we prepared everybody well enough to avoid something like this," said Maldonado.

Nick Masuda, who works alongside Maldonado, is also affected as a parent.

"It really resonates with me as a parent because you know I think about what if that was me … and you know it definitely dampens spirits," said Masuda.

"When things like this happen in a school district we tend to remind administrators to also work with their teaching staff of all the school safety plans we have in place … we write a school safety plan … we practice it … we have drills," said Maldonado.

Administrators say the school district has several counselors available for students who need someone to talk to. 

"We keep in touch with how children are feeling … this is also on a normal basis … for us as a school district … we really want to treat our children as whole humans," said Maldonado. "Knowing that this is the 27th shooting this year in a school in the United States my hope is that we can think about how we can make changes … to how we think about guns and gun safety for the sake of our children."

"Tomorrow is never a given … we have to live for today … this reminded us to hug our loved ones a little bit tighter … and to make sure that argument you felt you needed to have … probably necessary because life catches up to you sometimes," said Masuda.

Maldonado said she’s pleased with how the school district is coming together to support one another during this difficult time.