Teachers and staff members from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida returned to the school for the first time since the shooting rampage that killed 17, the Sun Sentinel reported.
District officials said the optional workday would be a way to provide support and counseling that any staff member might need and only people with official school credentials were allowed onto the campus Friday morning, the newspaper reported.
One school staff member who declined to provide her name greeted each car as it arrived, while standing alongside deputies.
"Good morning, I love you. Thank you for being here," the staff member said.
Yellow crime scene tape remained wrapped around the school's monument sign and around the campus perimeter directional sign, the Sun Sentinel reported.
The three-story freshman building, which was the site of many of the killings, will stay closed and might be demolished, according to the newspaper. The closing will displace about 900 students and teachers, and some teachers may share classrooms.
Students are scheduled to return Wednesday.
Science teacher and baseball coach Todd Fitz-Gerald said he is anxious to see them.
"I just want to get back to the 50 kids in my (baseball) program, the 172 students in (science), and the 3,000 kids that I love and just hug them and let them know I'll do anything in my power to help them feel safe at school," Fitz-Gerald told the newspaper.
Students at the school have raised $3.5 million and are putting together a plan to put pressure on politicians that do not support gun control.
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