Bakersfield is almost 3,000 miles away from Newton, Connecticut, but the tragedy at Sandy Hook has certainly affected our community. Local educators invited people to join them Monday night to pray and reflect at a candlelight vigil.
Students and teachers in Kern County returned to school Monday for the first time since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary.
"I bet you there's not a person who works at a school in America who didn't walk on campus feeling a little bit different today," said John Teves, Spokesperson, Kern High School District.
Schools across Kern County are reviewing their safety procedures in the wake of the tragedy.
"There are meetings being held and have been held to talk about what lessons can be learned from this and what else can be done to make sure this never happens at one of our schools," continued Teves.
Christine Lizardi Frazier is the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. She oversees 75,000 kids in 47 school districts. She says even with additional safety barriers, no security measure is foolproof.
"It's just like your home. You can put all the alarms in place. You can put all the safety windows in place. If someone wants to get into your home, they're going to get into your home," said Lizardi-Frazier.
She said we must focus on prevention and reaction.
"We could be a police state. We could have an armed guard in every classroom, but is that what we want for our kids? Is that the kind of society that we want to build?" she asked.