This morning, Friday, Feb. 18, the Intruder Alert System was activated at 9:06 a.m., just as students were leaving their second hour classes. Classes resumed around 9:50 during fifth hour.

The alarm was activated again at 11:27 a.m. during fourth hour and third lunch shift after a button on the phone was accidentely pressed during the investigation of the first alert. The Commons were cleared and classrooms were secured.  The alert ended at 11:29 a.m.

Principal Dr. Greg Mathison sent the following Alert Now message to parents after the first alert:

“Parents we want to make you aware our Intruder Alert System was activated around 9:10 today .  We have every reason to believe this was a false alarm initiated by a student.  The safety and security of students and staff is always our priority.  Police are in the process of going room to room making sure everyone is safe.  I will send another message as soon as police have cleared us to resume classes.  We will continue to investigate to determine the source of this false alarm.  If you have any questions don’t hesitate to call me.”

He said the fact that the halls were cleared within two minutes is a statement of how the staff strives to keep students safe.

“I thought our students and staff did a terrific job of ensuring everybody was safe and calm,” Dr. Mathison said.

Kevin Sharitz, math teacher, and his engineering students took preventative measures to ensure their safety.

“[Sharitz] blockaded the door with two book cases and him and other students in the class had tools in case somebody broke in,” Renee Denton, senior, said.

They also had the door tied shut and had drawn out a plan in case an intruder entered the room.

“We were set, we were ready to go,” Shartiz said. “Nobody was messing with my class.”

Dr. Mathison said the first alert was possibly activated by a student and the administration is investigating the situation.  Police checked every room to make sure students were safe.

“We’re never going to risk student safety based on an assumption so we had the police check every room,” Dr. Mathison said.

If a student was responsible for the alert, Dr. Mathison said they will face significant school disipline.

“Our number one goal is student safety,” Dr. Mathison said.