KIRKERSVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) – Students at Kirkersville Elementary School will head back to class Monday morning, amid blue ribbons hanging near the building and an American flag flying at half staff.

In a letter to parents posted on Facebook, hours after the school went into lockdown Friday morning, the school’s principal explained the decision to divert students on buses to Watkins Middle School. He described how staff created a procedure where parents and emergency contacts were required to show photo identification before picking up students from the school.

When it comes to discussing Friday’s tragedy with the students, the principal said the school would “defer to parents” to give their children certain details. However, he said in the statement, “The message will be that sometimes people make bad choices, and because of a bad choice someone made, we couldn’t be at school today. Our emphasis will be that we always work to keep students safe.”

The principal said the school would review its emergency procedures to see how it could improve. However, he emphasized the “outstanding effort” of everyone involved and said all students were safely reunited with their families.

In the comments section of the note posted to Facebook, many parents thanked the district and school for making quick decisions to keep students safe, as well as for keeping parents informed.