B-CC lockdown

[Anonymous]

Kids were taking AP tests!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To 13:58 students and staff didn't find one gunman on campus that day but faced numerous adults going around with them, imagine the trauma. rinse and repeat let's have a festival (not the one that had previously been planned and scheduled)???? did the district or mcps explain why the response was what it was. Didn't see the same response at Whitman the next day?

rinse repeat yuck

[Anonymous]

Did they bring tankers to Whitman too?

[Anonymous]

We are anther family fleeing for private. B'bye, MCPS. Can no longer stand the Progressives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids were taking AP tests!

Students and staff who were inside that day were expected to return to school next day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids were taking AP tests!

Students and staff who were inside that day were expected to return to school next day!

Oh because "we have to meet meet the number of days this school year" Apply for a F waiver!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To 13:58 students and staff didn't find one gunman on campus that day but faced numerous adults going around with them, imagine the trauma. rinse and repeat let's have a festival (not the one that had previously been planned and scheduled)???? did the district or mcps explain why the response was what it was. Didn't see the same response at Whitman the next day?

Thurs letter

...threat call to the main office
...administration called 911 immediately and Montgomery County Police Department members arrived

...Once . During the lockdown MCPD conducted a thorough evaluation of the building and completed a full sweep of the building

this situation was thoroughly investigated by MCPD based on a variety of factors ..., and the police’s inability to determine the veracity of the threat, the police determined a need to complete a full sweep of the building.

So, on Monday, Principal made bad call in response or communicating what happened? Then, on Thursday, Police made bad commands once they took over? Parents were livid between Monday and Thursday at school and MCPs, then it died out because then MCPD made questionable decisions? Is that what happened, BCC parents?

We haven't heard of consequences from Monday's SERIOUS incident.

[Anonymous]

No wonder mCpS has a chronic absenteeism issue. Which student wants to show up unless they have practice or a game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they bring tankers to Whitman too?

The threat at Whitman was nothing like what happened at B-CC.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/bomb-threat-sparks-lockdown-at-bethesda-chevy-chase-high-school-threat-unfounded/3618259/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To 13:58 students and staff didn't find one gunman on campus that day but faced numerous adults going around with them, imagine the trauma. rinse and repeat let's have a festival (not the one that had previously been planned and scheduled)???? did the district or mcps explain why the response was what it was. Didn't see the same response at Whitman the next day?

Thurs letter

...threat call to the main office
...administration called 911 immediately and Montgomery County Police Department members arrived

...Once MCPD arrived, they assumed command of the situation. During the lockdown MCPD conducted a thorough evaluation of the building and completed a full sweep of the building

this situation was thoroughly investigated by MCPD based on a variety of factors ..., and the police’s inability to determine the veracity of the threat, the police determined a need to complete a full sweep of the building.

? They didn't find whoever or whatever made a threat?

Recent BCC parent. I read the full letter. I read "inability to determine the veracity of the threat" to have nothing to do with whether or not they found the origin/maker of the threat.

TBH, if you have a bomb threat, you're gonna have to do a full sweep of the building to make people feel comfortable enough to go back. There's really no way to determine the veracity of the threat unless you catch a known perp and he confesses and says "sorry bad joke" or "yes, there is a bomb".

It also seems awful, and is traumatizing, to see full SWAT roaming the halls with long guns, etc. But, again, the bottom line is unless you have a clear perp in front of you in the first few minutes, police have to treat these reports as a worst case scenario, IMO, and after Uvalde and MSD that means many officers with maximum weaponry.

FWIW, there has been at least one other unrelated attempted swatting incident in the BCC cluster within the last year that did not have anything to do with school. (Rather, it was the home of a high-ranking govt official.) It seemed to be cleared quickly and discreetly for a variety of reasons. BCC parents who meet with Bethesda police should be asking broader questions about swatting events generally in the community.

Schools now have to deal with gun threats, bomb threats called in by students and swatting by strangers. That is the sad society we live in. And BCC parents writing nasty emails to/on the HS listserv and CCing every politician -- that is not going to change anything except keep us in an increasingly militarized school environment. The answers are at the ballot box, but doing that work is less satisfying than impulsively & publicly shooting off an anger-filled email. Parents are lamely rage-emailing while their kids have been out on the streets organizing and protesting (unsuccessfully so far) for gun control and other legislation. So the Q isn't - what is wrong with the kids? The Q is - what is wrong with the adults? We created this society. The kids have no alternative but to grow up in it - doing shooter drills since kindergarten. That's on adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids were taking AP tests!

Students and staff who were inside that day were expected to return to school next day!

Oh because "we have to meet meet the number of days this school year" Apply for a F waiver!

The school made the right decision. Keep school open the next day, hold AP exams. Some kids need the resources of school to process trauma (peers and counselors) others need a break. Many students prep for AP tests to lead up to a particular day and cancelling can be damaging.

Same with teachers -some want/need to come, others need not to. They have sick days and time off they can use. I hope MCPS HR treats these requests flexibly and the system is prepared to flood extra staff/support after these incidents.

The school did not say kids were "expected to return". The school said it would be open. You are a parent - take responsibility for what your own kid needs. If they need to stay home, simply write a note saying they were absent for health reasons. Attending to one's mental health is a real health need, and I wrote quite a few excusal notes like that in HS w/o any problem. Your kids absence, like all health-related absences of one day, will be excused. They can make up any test, assignment, get class notes or take a make up AP exam on make-up day.

Anybody taking an AP test at the time should complain to College Board and ask for a re-take on make up day or another day. The school should be assisting with such a request, frankly. It's reasonable to expect College Board to have alternate test forms they can administer. And/or students should consider noting in their college app that AP was taken during bomb threat lockdown.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Neighbor kid said today's BCC lockdown was over 2 hours long and then a shelter in place before school ended for the day. What were police doing for that long?

The threat was called at around 11:30am, lockdown implemented, the police arrived, and I suppose took some time to set-up and confer with admin. Police dog teams cleared each schoolroom and all storage and closets one by one, gave the all clear, and THEN there was a shelter in place, not quite sure why. Dismissal was at the regular time.

It sounds like this first poster has not been inside BCC. It is huge. Frankly, I am surprised they finished the sweep in only two hours.

Yes. Thank you. I’m grateful to the police.

Disgusted by the school board and the PTSA “check your privilege” attitude.

You must be thrilled that the PTSA president announced she will not continue on next year, which is something she had agreed to do when no one else stepped up. Will you volunteer?

I'm very sad the PTSA President is leaving. She did a great job. MCPS has ignored concerns for safety (I know they can't fix it all but they won't address anything)
She gently mentioned that some from a more privileged background may not fully understand why SROs are not always the best idea.
She didn't say this but we know data doesn't support the value of SROs but many don't care. I get it. I'm a middle aged white lady. I would feel better with SROs but it doesn't mean I'd actually be safer.

The person whom she responded to is very vocal about SROs but doesn't really acknowledge the other point of view so the President was trying to help (at least that's how I took it)
Look - the SROs won't save anyone from a bomb. Won't save them from a shooting. What they often do is rough kids up for very minor offenses and then the issue is an MCPD issue rather than an MCPS issue. Typically schools with SROs have a high number of arrests for minorities for offenses that didn't need law enforcement.

The SRO issue aside, I've heard the emails sent to the PTSA were horrific and nobody should have to deal with that - especially for a volunteer job that is really an unpaid full time job.
I couldn't do it and I think those who think the PTSA President has so much power to fix everything should step up and do it.

Just please stop. You have no clue what you are talking about. My kid goes to a HS with a high minority population, 47% FARMS. Majority of parents and students here want SROs to come back.

In case you didn't know, FARMS isn't the same as the number of non-white people. There are plenty of high-income black families who worry about their kids if they have to deal with police. So right there, I think you might not understand the issue. Do you have numbers on how many non-white families want SROs or did you talk to two low income people and assume they are the same as people of color?

I'm just using data on effectiveness of SROs. Try Googling it if you want to really understand why it's not a magical solution.

SROs make white people like me feel better but I'm able to see the other side of this because most of my family is not white and I have witnessed how they are treated differently by police.
I bet you have never witnessed a loved one be harassed by police and have to keep saying yes sir because just a little side eye could end up being the end of them. Your own white privilege is blinding you and stop saying you have one black friend so you know everything. Ever hear of Uvalde? How effective were the police there? A mother ran in to save her own kids.

Stop voting for Republicans who only care about using guns to scare their constituents into voting for them. Most people want common sense gun control and we should only elect people who will support that.

DP also with a kid at a high FARMS school, who also actually knows black families. I guarantee you that the majority are highly in favor of tight discipline in school including SROs. It’s only the super leftist activists who often don’t even have kids at the school - who are against it. But sure, my lefty black intellectual in law is probably against SROs in schools and the “school to prison pipeline.” Meanwhile she sends her own kids to a fancy private school because the publics are “to dangerous.” Lol.

I would love to see a straight up vote on the SRO question broken down by race and school and whether you are a teacher or oarent or student. At one point, they asked for thoughts at a PTA meeting and basically no one said anything. As a white parent, I didn’t feel comfortable voicing my opinion because I really don’t know what the impact is on black kids and I think that’s a really important question. As far as I know, no one has that data. The fact that a majority black county like PG kept the SROs says something, but of course that doesn’t answer the question.

I can assure you that in DCPS there would be a strong black majority for SROs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Apparently the swatting call came from hundreds of miles away.

Look at the size of those semi automatic rifles, right behind these kids heads. 😵‍💫

https://share.newsbreak.com/6y3rpefr

This is nuts.
Those poor, poor kids. 😢

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in downtown Bethesda. I was at the Chipotle last week at lunch and there was a contingent of BCC students outside. They were menacing and out of control; there was no adult supervision, and office workers were going out of their way to avoid the area. Loud cursing (f this, mf, etc.), screaming, chasing, crazy behavior. This simply didn't happen five years ago (I've worked in Bethesda for 25 years.) There is something very bad going on at BCC. To pretend otherwise is to be willfully blind. I understand why parents want to deny, because it stinks, but they need to get real and demand action.

Those are actually the kids least likely to do a school attack. They take their aggression out in healthy ways by cursing and venting with friends.

The misfits that are neglected at home and at school are always the ones that do this .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in downtown Bethesda. I was at the Chipotle last week at lunch and there was a contingent of BCC students outside. They were menacing and out of control; there was no adult supervision, and office workers were going out of their way to avoid the area. Loud cursing (f this, mf, etc.), screaming, chasing, crazy behavior. This simply didn't happen five years ago (I've worked in Bethesda for 25 years.) There is something very bad going on at BCC. To pretend otherwise is to be willfully blind. I understand why parents want to deny, because it stinks, but they need to get real and demand action.

Those are actually the kids least likely to do a school attack. They take their aggression out in healthy ways by cursing and venting with friends.

The misfits that are neglected at home and at school are always the ones that do this .

Do we know who "did this"? Did they find out?