Muskego Schools Assure They're Ready for Threats After Recent Lockdown

After a brief lockdown at Muskego High School sent a mild panic among school parents on March 5, Muskego-Norway School Superintendent Kelly Thompson said the process was what schools are trained for, and kept students safe.

"We knew fairly early on that it was not a threat to the student body directly, however we needed to control what was going on inside the school as the information we were receiving evolved," Thompson explained.

A student who had been out of the school at that time was being sought and there were concerns that he may have been a danger, and Thompson said the reaction of the district along with the Muskego Police Department was to control the threat.

"Our job at that point is to keep kids in as safe and protected a position as possible," she explained. "Truly the whole inside of the building was locked, meaning students stayed in their classrooms. Many of them thought it was a drill, and they have been through them regularly, so there wasn't an atmosphere of panic."

The district has a response plan to 27 various types of incidents, and Thompson explained it's the drills that help keep students and staff calm, while also honing the procedures. Each staff member has a binder of these plans to help them remember what to do and when to do it under unusual circumstances.

Parents had voiced concerns over the timing of the alerts they received on the incident. The lockdown was initiated at 1:20 p.m., but parents claimed they did not receive information from the district until after 2:15., when their children were released from the building.

However the short duration of the lockdown and the typical fluidity of information in the onset of the incident led the district to hold off putting out that information.

"We didn't want to state something that was not true, so we held off on a release until we knew the information we had was accurate," Thompson said. 

The student was taken into protective custody later that evening, and Thompson explained that "the environment the next day was back to normal from the reports we received from staff."

Recent more serious incidents have made the word "lockdown" one that usually inspires the worst of fears for parents. However Thompson stressed that it is a procedure that isn't exclusive to violent situations within a school.

"It can be used anytime we feel there is a threat to safety in general or a necessity to clear the hallways," she said. "I know it does sound scary, but it's only done in rare circumstances."

She said a team of staff members and Muskego Police officials are already reviewing the incident to see where improvements can be made. 

"We can always learn from actual situations, and this is no different. Our focus in this case will likely include how to convey to staff and students when it is safe to release students," Thompson said.