On the heels of two lockdown situations in one week, the Okaloosa County School District is working to improve how quickly information is relayed to parents.
Under an amended plan, Deputy Superintendent Kaye McKinley will work with the Sheriff’s Office to establish what happened and then email a statement to principals to share with parents through the district’s all-call phone system.
The calls will go out immediately after the lockdown is lifted, McKinley said.
“I know parents want us to get the information out as a soon as possible,” she said.
Four Crestview schools were locked down for about two hours Aug. 26 and Destin Elementary was locked down for about five minutes last Thursday after officials were alerted that armed people might be in the vicinity.
No children were harmed in either case, but the lockdowns prompted a number of questions, including why the district did not alert parents sooner.
The district delays any announcements for security reasons and to prevent a surge of parents at the school, McKinley said.
“What we’re initially doing is we’re addressing the risk so we can reinforce a sense of safety for the people at work and the children,” McKinley said.
People who try to come to the school during the lockdown will not be allowed in and will only be an unnecessary distraction, according to Sgt. Gary Venuti, who oversees youth services for the Sheriff’s Office.
“The safety of the students and staff are our biggest priority (in) dealing with citizens wanting to come to school,” Venuti said in an emailed response to the Daily News. “In a lockdown situation, it would take away from the primary mission of protecting the students and staff.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.
