In the days since last week’s lockdown at Marcellus High School, questions have surfaced in the community about how events unfolded on campus Oct. 10 and how school officials responded to them. In the interest of keeping the lines of communication open between the district and community, we’ve prepared these answers.
Why were students at K.C. Heffernan Elementary and C.S. Driver Middle School allowed to report to school at 8:45 a.m., after lockdown procedures had already begun at Marcellus High School?
By the time elementary students were reporting to school at 8:45 a.m., the student in question had already been identified and located off campus. After consulting with law enforcement authorities on the scene, district officials directed KCH and Driver Middle School to operate normally.
If the student in question was located off campus immediately, why did the lockdown last for three hours?
While law enforcement officials were investigating, school officials received a second threat that indicated the same student "had placed a bomb."
Because of the non-specific nature of the threat, the high school began to implement its "non-specific" bomb threat procedures, and Onondaga County sheriff’s deputies conducted a thorough search of school common areas. Once those areas were cleared by law enforcement, students were moved to those locations, so school and law enforcement officials could search room-by-room for potential threats.
During this time, administrators at the elementary and middle schools were kept informed about the investigation by district officials and law enforcement. Administrators, in turn, instructed their Building Response Teams to conduct cursory searches of those facilities. Because the student in question was a high school student, a more thorough response was ordered for the high school.
Why didn’t district officials address some of the rumors circulating during the incident, i.e. a student was armed and had a hit list, etc.?
Despite the district’s policy prohibiting the use of student cell phones, students were communicating with parents and each other during the Oct. 10 lockdown. Students, however, did not share what they were hearing with school officials or law enforcement.
This should serve as a reminder that more work needs to be done with the state’s new Dignity Act, which encourages by-standers to come forward to share serious information with a responsible adult.
Did the school district learn any lessons from the Oct. 10 incident?
Yes. Faculty and staff members met after dismissal for a formal debriefing to share what they had learned during the lockdown. In addition, administrators thoroughly discussed the district’s response at a recent Administrative Cabinet meeting. Although district officials were pleased overall with the execution of our safety plans and our close collaboration with law enforcement, we also identified ways to improve future responses. For example, the district is already tightening its emergency communication procedures – both internally and externally with the community.
The district also will continue its ongoing commitment to safety training, which has helped the district earn consecutive Titanium plus Honors Safety Awards from Utica National Insurance for the past three years. In addition to the school district’s annual and routine fire or lockdown drills, the school system is on a rigorous three-year cycle to:
- review and revise district safety procedures;
- conduct practice evacuations with just the faculty and staff in order to prepare for the event of an emergency; and
- carry out a mock, full-scale evacuation involving the entire school community, including students, faculty, staff and the transportation department, to coordinate efforts in a simulated emergency scenario.
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