Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was there today also. What we have been told is it was a swatting event and they said they had a rifle and pipe bombs hence the police response and room to room sweeps. This has nothing to do with the kid from Monday and it was reported the call was not even local. You can go back in the thread and read all of this.

I am very upset by what happened today and Monday because the real overall problem and the absolute gut rage and desperation I feel is because in today’s society we cannot keep our kids safe. Not at school, the movie theater, a concert, college campus, in a kindergarten classroom, anywhere. We have made voting choices in this country that have led to this and here we are. We care more about weapons and glorifying violence and cowboys than we do the safety of our children.

The counties and schools and principals and police and parents- all of us-are all trying to survive this absolute insanity. It’s not working. Today was awful and I just feel absolute sadness.

Yes. Well said.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look people I'm a BCC parent and I'm horrified by what happened today. But I don't see why people are blaming the school personnel or school district for this - preventing swatting is not something remotely within their control. Hopefully the MCPD and even federal authorities can find a way to trace the call and prosecute the person who made it.

The principal's letter was excellent - it also explained why they took this as seriously as they did (perhaps in response to criticism here that bomb threats elsewhere haven't resulted in lockdowns.) It sounds like they did everything right, although I think there may be lessons to be learned. My kid was outside the building and ran inside when they were told that there was some "outside activity," then shoved in a small room with a bunch of others. Ideally if school personnel were aware of the specifics around the threat, they might have encouraged students to run away rather than come inside.

There are real issues at BCC; I have an older kid who graduated a few years ago and I never heard about the stuff that has happened even in this year alone. I hope we can find ways to deal with the routine violence - fighting etc - as well as prevent weapons from getting into schools. But I also realize there's no simple or obvious answer. We have parents feuding on the listserv about SROs and others blaming social media or the lack of respect for authority among young people or restorative justice and so on and so forth. Does anyone really think that an SRO would have prevented today's swatting call? Or that a cell phone ban would have ensured that no student brought a weapon to school?

I hope your student is doing ok, it sounds like a traumatic day.

Since you’ve noticed a difference between this year and when your older child was at BCC, why do you think there are differences? (Honest question - as a parent about to send my child to BCC next year, I’m wondering what has changed - or maybe just a confluence of things).

Anonymous wrote:Look people I'm a BCC parent and I'm horrified by what happened today. But I don't see why people are blaming the school personnel or school district for this - preventing swatting is not something remotely within their control. Hopefully the MCPD and even federal authorities can find a way to trace the call and prosecute the person who made it.

The principal's letter was excellent - it also explained why they took this as seriously as they did (perhaps in response to criticism here that bomb threats elsewhere haven't resulted in lockdowns.) It sounds like they did everything right, although I think there may be lessons to be learned. My kid was outside the building and ran inside when they were told that there was some "outside activity," then shoved in a small room with a bunch of others. Ideally if school personnel were aware of the specifics around the threat, they might have encouraged students to run away rather than come inside.

There are real issues at BCC; I have an older kid who graduated a few years ago and I never heard about the stuff that has happened even in this year alone. I hope we can find ways to deal with the routine violence - fighting etc - as well as prevent weapons from getting into schools. But I also realize there's no simple or obvious answer. We have parents feuding on the listserv about SROs and others blaming social media or the lack of respect for authority among young people or restorative justice and so on and so forth. Does anyone really think that an SRO would have prevented today's swatting call? Or that a cell phone ban would have ensured that no student brought a weapon to school?

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Parents don't want to deny. Parents want action and real consequences. The administration are the ones denying.

Or Central Office? BOE?

Anonymous wrote:Look people I'm a BCC parent and I'm horrified by what happened today. But I don't see why people are blaming the school personnel or school district for this - preventing swatting is not something remotely within their control. Hopefully the MCPD and even federal authorities can find a way to trace the call and prosecute the person who made it.

The principal's letter was excellent - it also explained why they took this as seriously as they did (perhaps in response to criticism here that bomb threats elsewhere haven't resulted in lockdowns.) It sounds like they did everything right, although I think there may be lessons to be learned. My kid was outside the building and ran inside when they were told that there was some "outside activity," then shoved in a small room with a bunch of others. Ideally if school personnel were aware of the specifics around the threat, they might have encouraged students to run away rather than come inside.

There are real issues at BCC; I have an older kid who graduated a few years ago and I never heard about the stuff that has happened even in this year alone. I hope we can find ways to deal with the routine violence - fighting etc - as well as prevent weapons from getting into schools. But I also realize there's no simple or obvious answer. We have parents feuding on the listserv about SROs and others blaming social media or the lack of respect for authority among young people or restorative justice and so on and so forth. Does anyone really think that an SRO would have prevented today's swatting call? Or that a cell phone ban would have ensured that no student brought a weapon to school?

Anonymous wrote:My kid was there today also. What we have been told is it was a swatting event and they said they had a rifle and pipe bombs hence the police response and room to room sweeps. This has nothing to do with the kid from Monday and it was reported the call was not even local. You can go back in the thread and read all of this.

I am very upset by what happened today and Monday because the real overall problem and the absolute gut rage and desperation I feel is because in today’s society we cannot keep our kids safe. Not at school, the movie theater, a concert, college campus, in a kindergarten classroom, anywhere. We have made voting choices in this country that have led to this and here we are. We care more about weapons and glorifying violence and cowboys than we do the safety of our children.

The counties and schools and principals and police and parents- all of us-are all trying to survive this absolute insanity. It’s not working. Today was awful and I just feel absolute sadness.

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.

Parents don't want to deny. Parents want action and real consequences. The administration are the ones denying.

Anonymous wrote:Ws today's serious incident related to Monday's serious incident?

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

Parents don't want to deny. Parents want action and real consequences. The administration are the ones denying.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 wasn't a drill? Fit between lunch time and regular dismissal time?