Answers After a Lockdown for Students, Post April 22

“Explanations” circulated between students after the April 22 lockdown, prompting several teachers to bring attention to the issue of students being under-informed on lockdown details.

Principal Taylor explained that teachers and staff have a mandatory debrief meeting either the afternoon of the incident or, in this case, the next day. Ms. Gyekye explained, “[she] felt well informed and [admin] gave them the opportunity to ask questions.” While teachers are given the breakdown on why a lockdown occurred, many students feel as if they do not get the same courtesy. During the lockdown, sophomore Liam Weed said that he felt as if he “got a bunch of misinformation, so [he] wasn’t well informed.” Sophomore Dai Youmans also brought up a similar issue, that she “heard ten different stories” from other students, both during and after the lockdown.

Admin began to recognize the need to inform students after the lockdown, especially as teachers brought this concern to the attention of the school, and “what came out of that conversation was that students need to now be informed after the lockdown,” said Ms. Taylor.

Weed suggested, “[admin could] have a wide announcement and post it” to reassure students that they were getting the correct information. Ms. Harless, an English teacher, spoke to the fact that she “has hesitations to… go around the room and tell all of [her] students that there is someone on campus with a weapon during a lockdown.” Other teachers suggested messaging systems between staff or a singular clear announcement or post.