As school tragedies across the nation grab headlines, Cape Elizabeth officials are re-examining whether Cape Elizabeth schools are prepared for an emergency.

Next Thursday, Oct. 26, all the assistant principals, Superintendent Alan Hawkins, Fire Chief Philip McGouldrick, Chief of Police Neil Williams, school nurses and Russ Webster, a Cape resident who has worked with the Department of Homeland Security, are meeting to review plans already in place. They will strategize responses to emergency scenarios at the schools as part of a continuing process to prepare for what many hope never happens.

“We are going to review our former plans and discuss changes,” John Casey, assistant principal at the middle school, said Oct 12. They will run down scenarios like a lockdown, a shooter in the building and a gas leak, he said.

After several school shootings across the country this fall, Cape Elizabeth officials are among those throughout the country who are examining safety procedures and emergency responses to make sure they are prepared.

On Sept. 26, a man held six students hostage in Bailey, Colo., before shooting a 16-year-old girl and then himself. On Sept. 29, a 15-year-old student shot a principal in Cazenovia, Wis. Then on Oct. 3, a 32-year-old man shot 10 school girls in a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pa.

However, despite the rash of school shootings nationwide, parents and students in Cape Elizabeth said they weren’t worried that something similar might happen here. Nevertheless, they were grateful Cape Elizabeth officials were preparing for the worst.

“A lot of stuff in the U.S. isn’t impacting Cape Elizabeth,” Raymond Taylor, a Harrison Avenue resident, said Monday. “That’s why I moved back here.”

Taylor said that while his view may be naive, he thinks the town is insulated from some of the major issues facing the county.

Taylor has two sons in the Cape schools: Brendan, a freshman, and Patrick, a second-grader.

“I think it’s pretty secure,” Brendan Taylor said of the high school. He said the school has notices for safety and guidelines for a lockdown.

Denise Mancall, of Cove View, has two daughters at Cape Elizabeth High School, Morgan, a sophomore, and Alexandra, a senior.

“I would like to think the school is safe,” said Mancall. She said the school appears to being doing what it can to keep it that way.

Casey said the group is constantly tweaking what is already in place. The emergency group meets about three or four times a year, and usually picks a different situation that would affect all the schools.

“We are in a better place than five or six years ago,” he said.

Casey said that back in the early spring, a lockdown situation was run in all the schools, without kids in the buildings. The plan is to do a lockdown with the kids sometime in December or January.

A letter posted by Hawkins on Oct. 3 on the school Web site opens by addressing three recent school shootings, including the Amish school shootings in Pennsylvania.

“We wanted to get a letter to parents to let them know we are taking this seriously,” said Hawkins. “I have had a few people call me to say thanks, and that it is a relief to know Cape has a plan,” he said.

The Cape high school is one the schools whose safety plans adminstrators are reviewing. Parents and students at the school said they feel safe with current precautions.