B.F. Day Shelter-in-Place as Man Spotted with Knife Outside School

Tweet from SPS about an hour ago:

Shelter in place: BF Day after reports of man w/knife outside school. No students involved or injured.  SPD investigating.

The shelter in place was lifted about a half hour later. 

Comments

Benjamin Leis said…
*Argg* What is going on this year in the zeitgeist?
11/3/14, 4:23 PM
mirmac1 said…
Nothing is going on. SPS is being more careful and communicative about safety. That is good. Of course we don't know if it was a swiss army knife or a bowie knife. But I would rather they reacted than what happened during the Cafe Racer tragedy.

Based on my experience at a HS during a Lock down earlier this year, this is a good thing. Students remained calm, staff was hyper-vigilant, and kids learned that they shouldn't take this stuff lightly and must follow staff's orders.
11/3/14, 5:21 PM
mirmac1 said…
You might wonder why I sound so resolute. Because after Cafe Racer I was perplexed with the utter lack of communication, both external and internal, regarding sound safety measures. In particular I was perplexed that it was school release was business as usual while a mass murderer was wandering West Seattle. I am gratified that SPS now uses the means at its disposal to alert families in real-time.
11/3/14, 5:52 PM
Steve said…
The B. F. Day principal received a report from a parent about a man with a knife on Fremont Avenue near the school. He responded appropriately by calling the police and district security, locking all external doors (walked the building perimeter to make sure), and having kids shelter in place. No one could find the man. The whole event was over in 20 minutes.

Great work by the principal (Mr. Jaskot) and staff. This is what we practice...

Steve
11/3/14, 5:57 PM
Anonymous said…
I have to say - why isn't there a level between normal ops and shelter in place? This would seem to be that type of situation. Man is outside, not attempting to enter, just in vicinity. WHy not lock down from outside, walk the perimeter, and enact no one in/no one out ... but we all go about the day and learn normally? Because doesn't shelter in place mean you have to sit on the floor without talking away from windows (which would seem to be completely unnecessary in BFDay for a guy with a knife on Fremont?) Or is shelter in place just stay in the building acting normal? Are we overusing the shelter in place description in public discussion, for what is just a lock up, or do I totally misunderstand the levels of response?

Signed: confused
11/3/14, 9:08 PM
Anonymous said…
You misunderstand the levels of response. Shelter in place DOES mean business as usual except doors into the building are locked so nobody can enter. Classes go on as usual. LOCK DOWN is when kids and staff are locked in the classroom, shades are drawn, doors to classrooms are locked, etc. Nobody moves about the halls.

Sped Staffer
11/3/14, 10:40 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, gr...
Read more

Education News Roundup

From the ever-amusing Washington Policy Center : Vouchers are Pell Grants for students under 18.  Vouchers are no different than Pell Grants or GI benefits, except the money goes to the families of students younger than age 18.  Except they are. Pell Grants were created to help needy students and that's not really the goal of the voucher program.  The Pell grant website does have a couple of great studies on why low-income students drop out before finishing their higher ed and what makes a difference.
Read more