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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is APS response coordinated by the police though? Because if that’s the case it really is contingent in the police to provide direction. Have they ever done an active shooter drill - not the students but the police and the admin at schools?[/quote]

Williamsburg was notified of some kind of risk/threat, because they came outside shortly after 2:45 (the same time Discovery got the call to lock down) to end after-school intramural sports that were happening outside.  Kids who were not part of official WMS after-school activities were told to leave the premises and apparently were not given the option of returning to the building until it was deemed safe.  Despite feeling that there was a need to clear the outdoor areas, WMS apparently did nothing to secure the safety of people still inside then building.  This would tend to indicate they believed whatever threat might exist was outside the building, in which case it is inexcusable not to ensure the safety of students who were outside on school grounds at the time.[/quote]

More likely, since school was over, they implemented shelter mode, which is different from shelter in place. Shoo anyone outside off the property, no one in or out until the all clear.[/quote]

I’m sure the difference between shelter mode and shelter in place would be very comforting to a parent whose kid were shot by someone fleeing the scene of the incident after school staff forced them off grounds and refused to provide a safe place to shelter.[/quote]

Many parents at Discovery are upset that their kids were traumatized by a questionable lockdown that took place “out of an abundance of caution” due to a threat elsewhere and that was just as arbitrarily called off. Meanwhile some WMS parents seem to be upset that their school didn’t…..what exactly? Round up kids from outside after school and lock them away from an fleeing gunman who somehow evaded 50 cops yet was never seen?

[/quote]

As one of the WMS posters, I want to clarify that I am upset that it seemed different protocols were used between the schools - not that one was on lockdown or the other wasn't. This caused confusion and unnecessary fear for many kids and families. (Also why were DES kids on phones??). That being said, Police were at YHS by 1:30. I started getting tweets and Arlington alerts then at well. There was time to decide what to do with DES and WMS. I'm not sure who is to blame, but it was not coordinated. [/quote]

DP who is also one of the WMS posters.  This, exactly.  I knew what was happening at YHS an hour before WMS released, so there is no way the Williamsburg administration did not know.  Even if it was unclear what was happening and what response was appropriate, there should be guidance on what to do while waiting for clarity that meant two schools mere feet from each other would take the same approach.  That did not happen, and that is very concerning.

And pp is right that it did cause unnecessary fear.  When my son didn’t arrive home when expected (he is a walker), wasn’t answering his phone, find my iPhone showed him right between Williamsburg and Discovery, and I was hearing rumors that Discovery was on lockdown too, it was terrifying.  Turns out he had stayed after school to hang out with friends and forgot to text me, and then came home when they kicked everyone off the fields.

Whatever went wrong, I do put at least some of the blame on WMS.  Given that everyone knew what was happening at YHS, if they were going to release kids on schedule, there should have been a communication to parents that WMS was aware of the situation but had been assured by ACPD that there was no threat to the community, so they would be releasing students as schedule.  If they could not give assurance that there was no threat, they should have held students at the school until they had more clarity.  This lack of communication should not be surprising, I suppose, given the absolutely abhorrent job that WMS administration does communicating with parents on anything.  But even by WMS standards, this was bad.[/quote]

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