North Park Elementary tightens security for visitors after murder-suicide on campus

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- San Bernardino students will be returning to school one week after a deadly shooting on campus, and they'll be welcomed with tighter security measures.

Anyone who wishes to visit North Park Elementary School will not be allowed in without answering questions.

"If they have business that they have to attend to, they will have to be buzzed in," Principal Yadira Downing said.

Linda Bardere, with the San Bernardino Unified School District, said visitors will have to push a buzzer before being let into the main office. A small monitor at the secretary desk lets the school official see who is at the door and ask questions about the person's visit.

Workers prepared for the school's reopening and classroom B-1, where special education teacher Karen Smith and student Jonathan Martinez were killed, will be sealed off.

On April 10, Smith's estranged husband, Cedric Anderson, entered the campus after telling office personnel he needed to drop something off in her classroom.

When Anderson got to B-1, he opened fire on Smith and struck Martinez and another student in the chaos. Anderson then killed himself. Martinez, 8, died at the hospital and Nolan Brandy, 9, survived. Brandy was released from the hospital Friday afternoon.

Many of the students from Smith's class will be moved to a new room, C-1, and they already know their new teacher.

In addition to the buzzer, North Park installed a system that will enable officials to take photos of visitors and then print out an ID badge. School officials said parents, students and staff are looking forward to hitting the books again.

"We absolutely want the young students to feel comfortable. This is their home - they've missed being here, they've missed seeing their friends. We're just trying to get back to normal," Bardere said.

Counselors and additional staff members will be at the campus to provide any needed support when the school reopens Monday.