But no one thinks the scars have healed–not even the school’s principal, Frank DeAngelis. DeAngelis, who himself encountered one of the gunmen in a hallway moments before teacher Dave Sanders was killed, has spent months trying to pull his traumatized school together. He’s avoided the media ever since the first days of the shootings, but in an exclusive interview with NEWSWEEK last week, he talked candidly about the critical scrutiny the school has received and the emotional burdens all survivors share. “I think those haunting memories will never go away,” he says. “This is going to be with us for the rest of our lives, and the important thing is how we cope with it… I realized very early in this tragedy that I don’t know if it will ever get back to normal.”
“People are looking for someone to come out and say, ‘This is why it happened’,” he says. “And I think the reason why people feel so uneasy is the threat that it can happen again. That’s why people are frustrated. I’m frustrated. There is not a day that goes by when I don’t think, ‘Why did they do it?’ " The fear of still more shooting incidents has prompted high schools everywhere to tighten security to the maximum, and Columbine is no exception. Eighteen students were expelled or asked to leave in the wake of last year’s tragedy and in October a 17-year-old senior was arrested for allegedly threatening to “finish the job” Harris and Klebold began. DeAngelis, who admitted publicly that he had been unaware of the existence of “the Trench Coat Mafia,” was criticized for being out of touch. “That hurts because I care so much about Columbine and those kids and the families who lost their children and the families with injured children,” he says. “It breaks my heart.” While DeAngelis enjoys the support of the community, some in the media are criticizing him for cracking down too hard. “We have always had zero tolerance,” he maintains. “Students are reporting things they have not reported in the past.”
The future of the school library has also been a tangled issue. Many of those closest to the tragedy–the kids who were wounded, and the families of the 12 who died–want the old library demolished. But the Jefferson County school system says it can’t afford to replace it. Outraged at the prospect of the reopening of this painful place, the parents are forming a group to raise funds for a new library and a two-story atrium with a stunning view of the mountains. This week, the parents’ group will announce a plan to raise $3.5 million by May 1 for the new construction. “We’re determined to make something positive come from this,” says Dawn Anna, whose daughter, honor student Lauren Townsend, died in the library. “When kids… walk into [the new atrium] they’ll be looking skyward at the Rockies. We’re looking forward.”
Next week the Columbine Alumni Association and a New Jersey-based charity called Holiday Express will stage a tree-lighting ceremony and a concert. They’ve invited 15,000 local people, including police, fire and hospital officials who pitched in to help the school recover. The band Destiny’s Child will perform. People hope this cathartic day will remind them of something DeAngelis often says: “Columbine was a good high school and still is a good high school.”
