Interagency students, 12 and 14, arrested for armed robbery
Here's a grim little story that was in the Times.
It appears that two students from the Interagency School at Wilson-Pacific left the school at about 11:00 in the morning and tried to hold up a gas station at 84th and Aurora with a BB gun. The older student stood at the door while the younger student threatened the clerk with the gun and demanded cash. They received none.
After the failed hold up attempt, the two of them, aged 12 and 14, returned to the school where they are students. They were arrested there after being identified by the clerk and a school administrator who watched the store surveillance video.
I don't really have a lot to say about this. There really isn't a lot to say. I will note that I am surprised and concerned that young students at the Interagency School can come and go from school in the middle of the day like that. Is it an open campus? Did the school officials know - or have any way of knowing - that the two students were off campus? What about the school's responsibility for in loco parentis?
It appears that two students from the Interagency School at Wilson-Pacific left the school at about 11:00 in the morning and tried to hold up a gas station at 84th and Aurora with a BB gun. The older student stood at the door while the younger student threatened the clerk with the gun and demanded cash. They received none.
After the failed hold up attempt, the two of them, aged 12 and 14, returned to the school where they are students. They were arrested there after being identified by the clerk and a school administrator who watched the store surveillance video.
I don't really have a lot to say about this. There really isn't a lot to say. I will note that I am surprised and concerned that young students at the Interagency School can come and go from school in the middle of the day like that. Is it an open campus? Did the school officials know - or have any way of knowing - that the two students were off campus? What about the school's responsibility for in loco parentis?
Comments
Not trusting that the District is going to want to trumpet bad news, is there any legal reasoning that would insist in such a parental notification?
We received an auto-call, a letter went home with students and an email was sent out. I was satisfied with the communication.
It came from the principal however, not the district, so is it up to each principal to decide if/how to notify?
I'm not thrilled with the fact that it was necessary for the middle-school to enact security measures - yet happy that there are firm and quickly-enacted plans in place to handle these types of situations.
Ingraham High School rocketry team gets NASA invite
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010458192_dige09m.html
http://tinyurl.com/yhv5v2b
As for kids leaving school grounds even though the school has a closed campus, well, that happens all the time. Or at least it has at the schools my kids have attended - Salmon Bay, kellogg in Shoreline, and Nathan Hale (Hale has closed campus for 9th graders). Schools can have a closed campus, but it's tough, logistically, to enforce. Especially if the school has open campus for some grades, and closed for other grades.
As for security notifications, it must vary by school? Nathan Hale had a "Shelter in Place" a couple of months ago, and they made no attempt at all to notify parents. We had to hear about it from our kids. I'd like to know if there is a policy or procedure in place that requires a school to notify parents when a "lock down" or "Shelter in Place" occurs? It seems reasonable to expect notification immediately after the threat is resolved.
My understanding was that WMS students were not involved in the incident - just that the "suspect" (or whatever you call him/her) was in the vicinity of the school so the police notified administration.
I think notifying parents during an incident would be difficult, as student safety should be the #1 priority. If it is an ongoing situation (hours-long) - then yes, I want to be notified, but something that lasts one hour (like the one yesterday) I was fine with the after-the-fact communication.
It sounds like notification depends on the administration at a given school, as Hale didn't notify parents.
I was in my first lock down years before the term was in the vernacular. 1988 in one of the wealthiest communities in the USA. Tragic shooting at a nearby elementary school. Four children shot, one killed. One miracle survivor needed 6 pints of blood (and just how much blood does a first grader have?) And for our k12 school it happened to be Senior Skip Day. Extra worry, given that the perpetrator's whereabouts were unknown for hours. My point, if I have one, is you just never know.