ROCKLAND, Maine — Students were kept inside and a police cruiser was stationed outside the South School on Thursday because of a “non-school-related matter” involving a student.
Rockland Deputy Police Chief Wally Tower said no specific threat had been made but that the cruiser stayed outside the school throughout the day as a precaution. He offered no further details.
Students also were kept inside during recess and the front lobby door was locked. That door is normally the only one that is open from the outside during the school day.
No incidents were reported.
Principal Lynsey Ward sent home a note with students that alerted parents to some of the safety measures taken Thursday.
“Due to a non-school related matter regarding one of our students, the Rockland Police Department stationed themselves outside of our school today,” Ward’s letter stated.
The South School serves students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade. The school is attached to Rockland District Middle School which serves grades five through seven. South School has an enrollment of 296 students.
It obviously was school-related if the doors were locked and a cruiser was there! Semantics. Note to parents: it is your duty to check into this. Your children were in prison without your knowledge. You have a right to know why this happened. Make a stink.
it was probably a domestic matter that involved a child’s parents. In other words “not school related” –
sounds like a custody issue
I don’t understand how. Why have a full day cruiser plus locking down 300 little kids for that?
If a non-custodial parent, with a history of violence, threatens to just go get their child from school, I’d say that’s a VERY good reason.
I have NO IDEA if that’s what happened, just the first idea that popped into my head.
The first thing that popped into my head when reading that comment was why is that the school’s responsibility? When the cop could’ve moved the kid to a safe place and let 300 kids have a normal day without unnecessary fear and disruption? Get the cruiser back on the road where it is needed. It was more than that, but probably just as silly. :)
And, how would a person who might behave in this manner KNOW that the student has been moved?
I think that this whole line of speculation has gotten out of hand. It’s only one theory that probably has nothing to do with what happened. When people say ‘it was probably’ or ‘sounds like’, its time to run. My first post on this article asked that speculative theories need not apply. Like the guy on an old cop show used to say “Just the facts, Ma’am. Just the facts.” G’nite :)
And how would the alleged perpetrator of this unknown crime know their child was not there? See the flaw in your logic? Likely a distraught parent isn’t clearly thinking which might lead to this scenario (which could be way off base, we just don’t know).
Since everyone is given to speculation, why am I accused of having faulty logic. The theory itself is illogical. What happened to the kid once school let out? Police escort to another protected place?
Hopefully!
I disagree with you. This is a young school age child and rather than cause any further turmoil in their life, they chose this route instead. I see nothing wrong with the PD letting one officer stay outside the school to be sure everything is safe rather than have something happen and the PD couldn’t make it to the school in time.
Thanks youve explained that very well besides saving me the time of typing all that myself,just one more thing to add,you forgot to add the possibility of 300 potential hostages if the parent was able to gain entrance into the school lol thanks again.
Good point! I have heard of things of the same nature occurring as well. Just a precaution in case the non-custodial parent shows up. Very likely this is the case.
So, you think it’s ok for students to be locked inside a building with cops outside because someone’s family is having a bad day? Unbelievable!
Letsbe…………. millicent never said that, go back and read if you need to. Otherwise, if you were to ask, “Do you think it’s ok to…………..?” Then you avoid assuming :)
As a parent, I would rather have the school lock the children in the school, if it meant that their classmates were protected from whatever the threat may have been. Absolutely!!!!! What is your fear about the students being locked in the school? I guarantee they did not even notice. On many different days, for a variety of reasons, schools cancel out door recesses and they stay inside the entire day. The fact that the front door was locked was probably never even told to the students and they happily went about their day … learning!!!! Bravo to the school and staff that provided a safe environment to ALL students.
If there was trouble at your childs school where they needed to lock it down and have a ARMED POLICE OFFICER parked at the entrance, would you wonder why or would you just except that this is normal for todays schools.. Why wouldn’t you ask??.. Pretty trusting of a indoctrination center.
I know I’d rather have my daughter kept inside on lockdown and SAFE if there was someone on the outside who could pose a threat.
Do you lock your doors at home?
At night, while the household is asleep.
I’ve worked in schools for many years, and I would say that 90% of this kind of security measure has to do with custodial issues of the parents. Like it or not, the safety of all the students comes absolutely FIRST. When there is a parent that does not have custody rights, it can be due to history of violence and any threat against the kid or family can create a violent situation in the school, so to be safe, the doors get locked. Yes, the kids miss outside recess, but this is no different than being held inside due to a rainy day as far as the kids are concerned. Since Columbine, if you send your kid to public school, then that is a reality your kids can face, that the school could be in lock-down at times. That does not mean the kids are being held against your will, because you as a parent can always go to the school and be let in after you are identified, unless there is an immediate known danger right outside the school. I have seen a raging parent at a school demanding to have his kids, and I can tell you personally, it can severely traumatize MANY kids to witness that, even if it’s nothing more than some heated words being tossed around.
Again. You are not getting it. YOU AS A PARENT have a right to know what the threat is to YOUR CHILD. Period.
you obviously don’t have kids or are just self centered
You obviously don’t know me. I have several thousand kids as I worked in schools for a long period of time. During that time I saw many things that none of the staff were allowed to talk about due to FERPA. Secrecy in PUBLIC schools is not a good thing. Go find out what happened if you have children in that PUBLIC school. If parents did that where I worked, the outcomes of some situations would not have continued. Administrators will lie about dangerous situations or claim family privacy to protect the school and themselves and not your children. Sad but true.
If you worked in schools for a long period of time, what in the world could you be scared of the front door being locked for the day??? Makes no sense. For the past six years, I too, have been in a K-8 school daily. There are many, many reasons why the children are kept indoors on a fairly regular basis … weather, playground safety conditions, etc. To have the front door locked was probably never noticed, which if you had worked in a school you would know, and their day was uneventful. Why are you worked up about the door being locked? Are you suggesting the the alternative would have been cancel school? Send threatened child home to possibly defend themselves? Makes no sense that you would not want to protect a fellow student!! Who would not rather a day with the door locked and indoor recess vs. either of those alternatives.
You have accepted this, so what is the point? I guess in your world, no one ever goes outside? How did the children get home? What about today, tomorrow, or next week? You accept your children being kept in a locked building all day without being notified, but even worse in my opinion is that you won’t even ask why? Seriously! My children would not have been back at school until I knew what level of threat they were under in the 3rd grade that would require these actions by the school! And you are missing my main point, which is that a non-school issue shouldn’t be changing the routine of a school’s operation.
I’ll note that the door was locked from approach from the outside. Since it is an egress door, it is always unlocked from the inside.
It’s a K-4 school. The students are not allowed to leave during the school day without a parent or guardian presenting themselves to staff at the office. “Prison”? Please.
It’s none of the other parents rights to know is going.on in someone else’s house hold if there is no harm being directed at their child. if those parents want to know its because they are nosey. besides a cop being outside doesnt stop them from what they are there to do, which is learn.
No, of course not, cops outside school doors never stop children from doing what they are there to do,,,learn. Are you for real?
And it IS other parents’ right to know what’s going on in other’s homes IF THE POLICE ARE PARKED IN FRONT OF THE SCHOOL!! But then again, I’m sure a perpetrator would only harm the child involved, never other children.There, guess there’s nothing to worry about afterall(Oh my gosh….)
If there was a threat to other children then All parents would have been notified
I do not believe the possibilty of that happening as this area likes to keep things from the public
So a cop and cruiser were taken off the streets for a day and first through seventh graders were put under house for a non school matter involving one student. I can’t wait to hear the reasoning behind that!
(No wild speculation need apply. After all, it’s just a school.)
You obviously live in a fantasy world, where everything is always rainbows and unicorns. One person can cause all kinds of issues at a school. Does Columbine ring any bells with you? The fact that in today’s case, they knew there was a threat, and locked things down is a GOOD THING!!!!
Hey Grumpy! Relax! Your attitude has changed from a simple custodial battle to a massacre?? There was No threat to the general population! Comparing this to Columbine is a ludicrous comparison as there was no general threat and they had some kind of warning; just the opposite of Columbine, so I know you aren’t yourself tonite. Plus I wasn’t the one that started this conversion between you and me and I really take offense with your hysteric unicorn attack! We’ve usually had a cordial relationship, but this, sadly, has turned into an uncalled for pp slap.
Now, I believe that when one is bid good nite here, it means the yakking’s over, but I’ll give it another try. WOW :(
Considering my unicorn post was made PRIOR to your first goodnight, your final sentence make no sense.
I find it interesting that on other articles you say how happy you are that you escaped Maine, yet you can’t let 3 hours go without checking the news here. Perhaps you should just keep your nose wherever it is that you went, and leave those of us who care about the safety of our kids alone.
Considering I answer posts in the order of notifications, It was after (and still uncalled for).
Don’t see how you could know the timing of my checking this site. I often check my email and since notifications from Disqus come there, it only seems I’m always here.
I don’t understand the hysteria over this ‘theory’ from a State that leaves pocketbooks in unlocked cars and leave their houses open all day. Since we don’t know a darned thing about what was going on, I think all these arguments over a speculation is plain old silly and have said so (and am getting slapped silly for it).
I raised 2 kids (and obviously cared about their safety too) here near Boston where a steady job is probable, but the County will always be close to me especially since most of my relatives still live there and I pay a land tax up there.
It’s the blackflies, relative poverty, unbearable humidity and nothing to do that I’m happy to have escaped. :|
By the way, what happened to the kid after school let out? Care to speculate?
what a fear monger you are.. If there is a problem so bad in the school that it needs to be locked down, disrupt an entire school and needing policemen then people ought to know what the heck is going on.. If your school needs a policeman than keep your kids home, because it is to dangerous there.
Good lord, maybe, just maybe the police actually know what they’re doing and the measures taken were proper. I seriously doubt there was a specific threat against anyone, likely as has been speculated a distraught parent who’s whereabouts were unknown, making the possibility of their showing up at the school a possibility. This doesn’t mean there was any threat to students, at all. Of course this type of scenario is only played out when the issue is somehow brought to the attention of the police, while in fact it’s highly likely that erratic behavior on the part of parents is a much more prevalent issue, just no one knows outside the home. At some point, you as parents put a significant amount of trust into the school and others for the care of your children, one might consider the statistics that a child will be injured on the school bus are far more likely than something happening in the school proper, do you meet the driver every morning to check his sobriety?
I agree in general, however, I also believe in satisfactory explanations. There have been none and that is part of the problem.
You people are amazing. You have convinced yourselves that this is a custody issue because someone suggested it. There could be a million reasons why the school was locked down and the police were there. Maybe no one knows why, because a child was being protected or a teacher or someone else. This is how rumors get started. I have no idea why this happened, but I do know enough not to speculate on it.
So a woman runs into the school full of kids because she is scared that her husband is going to hurt her. WOW!! Nobody should treat a school full of kids as a safe house when in fear of domestic violence.. Lucky for the kids nothing happened, THIS TIME.
Did that happen or did you think it might have happened that way? They said it was related to a student, not an adult.