Palmer Thanks Students, Staff for Lockdown Behavior

After a Weston High School staff member discovered a "hand-written note with several lines of text containing references to staff and students dying" Wednesday morning, the school was placed on lockdown. 

Dr. Colleen Palmer, superintendent, sent out an email to Weston parents yesterday, commending high school staff and students for their behavior during the trying day.  

After the staff member discovered the note, it was turned over to a police officer who was at the school on other business.

The note, Palmer wrote, mentioned 25 people, "but there was no specific 'hit' list or any staff or student mentioned by name."  Lisa Wolak, WHS principal, relayed that sentiment to the school body yesterday.

After the police officer received the note, the timeline of events was as follows, according to Palmer:

• The WPD immediately began its investigation of the matter.  At 12:15 p.m. the school was placed in a lockdown as a precautionary measure.  The three other schools were not placed in lockdown as the unconfirmed threat was confined to the high school.
• The Weston Police called for assistance in anticipation of a search of the entire school facility; members of the CT State Police and several police officers from neighboring towns reported to WHS.  The CT State Police brought in firearms-sniffing dogs to expedite the search of the large facility.  There were no reports of any bombs in the school – the dogs were on site to search for any firearms.
• The students and staff were then moved to WMS and WIS in an orderly evacuation of the school at approximately 1:15 p.m. so that the search could be conducted.  With half the school going to WIS and the other half going to WMS, all students could be accommodated in a sheltered, warm environment to await dismissal by bus.  Student drivers were asked to wait at these schools until the police could check the parking lots.
• The entire school was searched and no threatening items were found on site.
• The Weston Police continue their investigation of the matter, but have authorized our high school safe for it to resume normal operations.
• The Weston Police continue to be a visible presence on School Road and in our schools every school day for the remainder of this school year.  Budgetary requests for police on campus next year are also being vetted by the Town officials at this time as part of the annual budget approval process.

Palmer said delivery of alerts were delayed because internet access went down for a period of time, "creating undue stress on families waiting for further information."

"In our investigation of this matter, the intense demand by online devices overloaded the Internet capacity of the system," Palmer wrote. "The technology director for our district has already begun to implement a solution for this high peak of traffic and mobile internet devices have been placed at central office to provide redundancy to the system."

Palmer said the district's three-tier busing system was changed to two-tiers, with high schoolers and middle schoolers riding home together. 

"The excessive traffic on School Road created a gridlock at one point," Palmer said. "While police officers assisted with traffic flow, the number of vehicles on site hindered the movement of the buses and delayed departures."

Palmer said the lockdown, combined with an evacuation procedure, was a first for the district. 

"In spite of the various challenges of moving an entire school to be housed at the two other schools, the district performed extremely well in these conditions," she wrote.

Palmer said the fact School Road was gridlocked is something parents should keep in mind.

"In the event of a real emergency where numerous first responders would need access to our schools, we need to limit other vehicular traffic to School Road," she wrote. "In an emergency, if parents come to schools to pick up students, vital pathways for emergency vehicles and personnel will be impassable. Please assume that you cannot pick up your children during an event unless told otherwise."

Palmer said the district plans to provide a current update on school security to parents, followed by a question and answer session. Should parents wish to provide feedback prior to that session, contact Jo-Ann Keating, director of operations, at joannkeating@westonps.org.