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Dear MCPS Staff and Community,

It is with a heavy heart that I write to address an incident of gun violence that occurred at Magruder High School today.

The police are still investigating this incident, but here is what we know: This afternoon, a student was found with an injury that appeared to have been caused by a gun. The school was locked down and police were immediately contacted and arrived quickly. Through their investigation they identified and arrested a student, and a handgun was confiscated. The lockdown was lifted late this afternoon, and students were safely dismissed. We are grateful for the Montgomery County Police Department’s rapid response and quick work to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation. We are also grateful to the Magruder staff for the work they did to keep students safe and to Magruder’s students for remaining calm and following procedures.

I strongly believe students and staff deserve to learn and work in a safe environment. Our students must feel safe in order to learn effectively. We must make it clear that violence and weapons have absolutely no place in our schools. Anyone found to be in possession of a weapon at a school, on school property, or at a school-sponsored event will be referred to the police. Students will also face serious disciplinary action from the school in alignment with the MCPS Code of Conduct.

Today’s incident weighs heavily on our community’s sense of safety. For many students at Magruder and throughout MCPS, the incident itself and the substantial police presence may be upsetting and traumatizing. These events compound existing anxieties and disruptions that many students are experiencing from the ongoing pandemic. Social and emotional support—including counseling services—will be available for students at Magruder and all of our schools in the coming days and beyond. Any trusted adult in our schools stands ready to connect students with the proper resources to process this incident or discuss any other concerns they may have.

If you or your child becomes aware of a student who has a weapon or is planning to hurt themselves or others, please immediately contact the local police and the school administration. Anonymous tips can also be reported to the Maryland SafeSchools Tipline at 833-MD-B-SAFE (available 24/7).

Please keep the student who was injured in your thoughts along with the entire Magruder High School community during this difficult time. We are all impacted by this incident, and should commit to supporting each other to stop acts of violence in our schools and community. The following link is a resource for talking to students about violence. This resource is translated into multiple languages, with links on this page: Talking to Children About Violence.

In the coming days and weeks, MCPS will continue to collaborate with our police and government officials to conduct a thorough review of what occurred today and what steps we need to take to further create a safe environment for students and staff. I am also committed to working in partnership with students, staff, and families as we all do whatever it takes to keep our schools safe.
Sincerely,

Monifa B. McKnight, Ed.D.
Interim Superintendent

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Magruder teacher if anyone has any questions. Kids were very good during the lockdown. Staff were pretty positive. All of us are new to this so it is hard to process it. Felt like a normal day. Lockdown was relaxed with most students just on phones. The worst part by far was not being able to use the restroom.

I agree that communication sucked. They wouldnt even tell us any details even though it’s all over the news/Twitter.

Sorry you had this happen at your school.

Why were you held hostage without bathrooms for 3 hours after the shooter had already been detained?

NP, I’m assuming that was a law enforcement decision.

My kid knows several kids at the school and was texting with them throughout. Word is the gun was not with the shooter when apprehended and they had to find the weapon and then clear the school for safety.

Anonymous wrote:There was an ARMED shooter in the school for TWO HOURS and they said "no threat."

Read that again.

MCPS is gonna MCPS, as they say. So glad we moved to private this year, but feeling bad for our friends who have kids in MCPS. It's not this one incident, but consistent mismanagement from major mess-ups to small ones:
https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/when-in-person-school-resumed-in-north-chevy-chase-mcps-forgot-to-tell-bus-drivers/

Our DD (now in private) is ES so I signed up to read a book to the class. I did this when she was at our MCPS ES (a W feeder school) also. The difference was remarkable. At our MCPS school, I enter and no one in the front office has a clue what's going on, why i'm here, etc. It took 10 minutes to sort that all out. At our private, the security guard is waiting, addresses me by name, then DD is there to escort me to her class and give me a little tour after.

It's like MCPS has been leting kids and parents down both on the big stuff like security to even the little stuff. It's a real shame for a school system which was once considered one fo the country's best.

Anonymous wrote:There was an ARMED shooter in the school for TWO HOURS and they said "no threat."

Read that again.

It wasn’t like they were not aware either. They knew it too. We all saw the video of the SWAT team enter.

There was an ARMED shooter in the school for TWO HOURS and they said "no threat."

Read that again.

Anonymous wrote:What is disturbing is that shooter was still in school with gun and leadership is communicating that there was no threat. I get they retracted and apologized later but it isn’t okay. Of course there was a little panic and leadership tendency is to try to calm folks. But I will never believe what is being told to me again by MCPS and Dr. Evans. How dare you say there is no safety threat when there is. Is this an overreaction on my part? I still am fuming about this, we want updates but not lies!

It’s unacceptable. The constant lies from MCPS are just unacceptable. The culture there needs significant change. Culture starts at the top.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest to god I am disturbed to my core by this. How had MCPS become this way? How has this county turned into this? How can we bring things back from the brink.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids are still being released from school now. It’s grotesque that they would do this.

Is this the behavior of a sociopath? Denying kids even water. Further traumatizing them so that McKnight could arrive ONE HOUR late to the press conference so she could read her statement for the cameras. How is this putting the health and safety of kids first? I’m disgusted. Everyone should be.

I didn’t hold her responsible for the shooting but if she’s the one that held the kids at school for 5 hours she should be fired tonight!

That won't happen.

The issue is that she’s not up for the job. The question is how long are they going to let her steer this into the ground before getting new leadership, because she’s going to get fired sooner or later. Probably best to cut our losses at this point.

Maybe the best solution is to find her a relatively easier Super job in another, small and less challenging district so that she gets her reward for her service or whatever and allows the county to openly recruit absent political pressure to retain her.

+1 Totally on board with this. Since we took Smith from Calvert County, we can return the favor and send them McKnight. Then we can actually get someone who can do the job. At this stage we may even need to beg Starr to come back.

Y'all are ridiculous

What is disturbing is that shooter was still in school with gun and leadership is communicating that there was no threat. I get they retracted and apologized later but it isn’t okay. Of course there was a little panic and leadership tendency is to try to calm folks. But I will never believe what is being told to me again by MCPS and Dr. Evans. How dare you say there is no safety threat when there is. Is this an overreaction on my part? I still am fuming about this, we want updates but not lies!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Magruder teacher if anyone has any questions. Kids were very good during the lockdown. Staff were pretty positive. All of us are new to this so it is hard to process it. Felt like a normal day. Lockdown was relaxed with most students just on phones. The worst part by far was not being able to use the restroom.

I agree that communication sucked. They wouldnt even tell us any details even though it’s all over the news/Twitter.

Sorry you had this happen at your school.

Why were you held hostage without bathrooms for 3 hours after the shooter had already been detained?

NP, I’m assuming that was a law enforcement decision.

That's not an answer. Since when are students held hostage in their school after a shooting? They aren't. They are walked out, searched and sent home.

The kids wouldn't have even interfered with the press conference since the press conference was at Sequoyah E.S.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest to god I am disturbed to my core by this. How had MCPS become this way? How has this county turned into this? How can we bring things back from the brink.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids are still being released from school now. It’s grotesque that they would do this.

Is this the behavior of a sociopath? Denying kids even water. Further traumatizing them so that McKnight could arrive ONE HOUR late to the press conference so she could read her statement for the cameras. How is this putting the health and safety of kids first? I’m disgusted. Everyone should be.

I didn’t hold her responsible for the shooting but if she’s the one that held the kids at school for 5 hours she should be fired tonight!

That won't happen.

The issue is that she’s not up for the job. The question is how long are they going to let her steer this into the ground before getting new leadership, because she’s going to get fired sooner or later. Probably best to cut our losses at this point.

Maybe the best solution is to find her a relatively easier Super job in another, small and less challenging district so that she gets her reward for her service or whatever and allows the county to openly recruit absent political pressure to retain her.

+1 Totally on board with this. Since we took Smith from Calvert County, we can return the favor and send them McKnight. Then we can actually get someone who can do the job. At this stage we may even need to beg Starr to come back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Magruder teacher if anyone has any questions. Kids were very good during the lockdown. Staff were pretty positive. All of us are new to this so it is hard to process it. Felt like a normal day. Lockdown was relaxed with most students just on phones. The worst part by far was not being able to use the restroom.

I agree that communication sucked. They wouldnt even tell us any details even though it’s all over the news/Twitter.

Sorry you had this happen at your school.

Why were you held hostage without bathrooms for 3 hours after the shooter had already been detained?

NP, I’m assuming that was a law enforcement decision.

That's not an answer. Since when are students held hostage in their school after a shooting? They aren't. They are walked out, searched and sent home.

Mcps has been acting as if it’s business as usual. Kids are feeling pressure while grappling with the aftermath of quarantine, COVID, and the schools do not put mental health first.

And had schools been closed to let the wave pass and let tensions die a bit, this could have been avoided.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Magruder teacher if anyone has any questions. Kids were very good during the lockdown. Staff were pretty positive. All of us are new to this so it is hard to process it. Felt like a normal day. Lockdown was relaxed with most students just on phones. The worst part by far was not being able to use the restroom.

I agree that communication sucked. They wouldnt even tell us any details even though it’s all over the news/Twitter.

Sorry you had this happen at your school.

Why were you held hostage without bathrooms for 3 hours after the shooter had already been detained?

NP, I’m assuming that was a law enforcement decision.

What law enforcement purpose was there to holding kids in the school until after the press conference? I’d like to hear one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The incident was reported to police at 12:53pm.

The public knew about it on Twitter shortly thereafter:

Surely the superintendent was notified at that point. The press conference was scheduled for 4:45pm. How does it take 4 hours of being "stuck in traffic" to get to the school?

Even without a press conference, if I was superintendent I'd want to be near the scene as soon as I heard about it. That's what leaders do.

She had to do her hair. Duh.

Oddly enough I think this mundane answer is the correct one. First, she never even thought to go to the school or address the community today in person. Once it was clear she had to, she had to “get ready”.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Magruder teacher if anyone has any questions. Kids were very good during the lockdown. Staff were pretty positive. All of us are new to this so it is hard to process it. Felt like a normal day. Lockdown was relaxed with most students just on phones. The worst part by far was not being able to use the restroom.

I agree that communication sucked. They wouldnt even tell us any details even though it’s all over the news/Twitter.

Sorry you had this happen at your school.

Why were you held hostage without bathrooms for 3 hours after the shooter had already been detained?

NP, I’m assuming that was a law enforcement decision.