School buses are parked at Bend-La Pine Schools Transportation facility on Oct. 18, 2026, Bend, Ore.
Jenny Kane / OPB
Families in Bend-La Pine Schools are navigating fear and trauma Wednesday, the first day back to classes for most students after a shooter at Silver Rail Elementary killed three children and one teacher, and seriously injuring another educator and young student.
All Bend-La Pine schools except for Silver Rail reopen Wednesday morning. Principals sent letters to parents Tuesday with instructions about the first day back.
“Our focus will be on familiar routines, caring connections, and support for those who need it,” reads one letter sent to families at an elementary school.
The district has arranged extra counselors and a visible police presence, while teachers try to create normalcy after the tragedy. But for some parents, it’s too soon to resume classes. Others say they may never be ready to go back.
“I’m not going to participate in normalizing these events,” said Kristan Banks, the mother of a 10-year-old in a district charter school. Her family has decided not to send their daughter back until changes are made with school security.
From left to right, Kristan Banks, Phoenix Banks and Damien Banks pose for a portrait in their dining room in Bend, Ore., on Oct. 20, 2026. School is resuming in the Bend-La Pine Schools district on Oct. 21, after being closed for several days following the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
The Bend Police Department will have an officer at every school at the beginning and end of each day this week, said spokesperson Sheila Miller.
Adding security when parents are already present at schools to drop off and pick up their children wasn’t convincing for Banks.
“Is that just for show?” she said. “This feels very performative.”
The district’s goals of creating safety and connection through routines are butting up against many parents’ frustration and fears for their children.
An online petition started by a Silver Rail parent calling for more police and security in the district had garnered more than 1,500 signatures as of Tuesday night.
Silver Rail families in limbo
Trey Heiss’s daughter Scarlett is in second grade at Silver Rail Elementary. On the day of the shooting, he waited for an “agonizing” four and a half hours at Journey Church, the district’s reunification center, to hear the status of his daughter.
Since then, he said, they’ve been waiting for information about when classes for Silver Rail students will restart.
Trey Heiss, the father of a child enrolled at Silver Rail Elementary School, poses for a portrait on Oct. 20, 2026, in Bend, Ore. Heiss started a petition to call for immediate safety improvements to schools in the district following the deadly shooting on Oct. 15.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
“We’ve heard nothing,” Heiss said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s just all we’ve heard at this point is it’s closed indefinitely.”
He started the online petition advocating for security changes within the district. It calls for school resource officers at each of the around 30 schools in the district, regular security assessments, a parent-led safety committee and interventions for kids who are struggling with their mental health.
The school resource officer at his daughter’s elementary was spread too thin between multiple schools, far too much responsibility for one officer to effectively respond to a shooter, he said.
The 16-year-old who killed four people and injured two others Oct. 15 was a former Silver Rail student who opened fire in a special education classroom. He shot his way into the building, police have said. A teacher, who was not injured, tackled the gunman, while a parent who was passing by the school as the attack unfolded pursued the teen into the classroom with a gun, fatally shooting him.
“I do worry that if we just let it go back to normal too fast it’ll just kind of get swept under the rug and nothing will get changed,” Heiss said.
He is hoping his petition will generate enough attention that meaningful plans can be made at the next school board meeting, scheduled for Nov. 10.
Other parents, like Banks, have pulled their children out of the district in the days since the shooting.
Fragile trust
Amy Banton’s 10-year-old son Wallace attends Highland Magnet School. He is returning to classes this week.
The day before schools reopened, the mother and son were at the Deschutes Public Library’s Central Library making crafts and writing notes for the families of Silver Rail Elementary.
Amy Banton, 37, left, and her son Wallace "Wally" Banton, 10, show the art they made in support of the Silver Rail Elementary community on Oct. 20, 2026 in Bend, Ore. Central Library held a free crafting event and letter writing event.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
The event was meant to honor 5-year-old Rhoam Summer, one of the students killed in the shooting. The names of a slain 8-year-old and 11-year-old have not been publicly released at the request of their families, police have said.
“I’m nervous,” Banton said about sending her son back to school. She keeps thinking about the “what ifs.”
“I believe in the safety plans that they’ve put in place, but it’s scary,” she said.
She and Wallace held signs made at the library reading: “We love you Silver Rail” and “Endless amounts of love.”
This story may be updated.
OPB’s Jen Baires contributed to this report.
