Middle School Lockdown

This afternoon, as those of you with children in the Middle School already know, there was another lock down. It occurred at or about 1:55 pm, according to a few students in the school. This is shortly before dismissal (2:36 pm) and pickup. We support the District’s decision to keep the lock down in place and to allow the Scarsdale Police to conduct a full sweep of the school and property, ensuring the safety of our children. While it affected dismissal time and bus schedules for the elementary schools, creating some inconvenience for parents, it was without question the optimal choice. The first notification call from the District was received, at least on Roger’s cell phone, at 3:02 pm. That is more than an hour after the lock down began. While we understand that SMS personnel were likely tied up attending to responsibilities pursuant to the lock down, we firmly believe that there was at least one employee in the District office who could have send an initial email or programmed an interim voice mail well before 3 pm. An email/voice mail need not be “signed” by Dr. Hagerman himself but must be sent sooner. Our District simply must understand that in this time of heightened fears over violent incidents at our nation’s schools, keeping parents updated in a very timely way must be a priority and made part of the standard procedures.