New lockdown policy put into use
A lockdown was initiated on Sept. 17 after an attempted break-in to the cafeteria and a threatening social media post occured over the previous weekend. A police investigation was carried out over the course of third period that day, although both the administration and sheriff’s department believed that the search was more of a general precaution.
“Specific comments were mentioned on the social media posting indicating the lunch time hour. Those comments, coupled with the cafeteria burglary were suspicious in nature. Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of all children and staff at the school and due to the investigation occurring within 20 minutes of the lunch time hour, it was decided to place Newbury Park High School in a ‘soft lock down’ until the investigation was completed,” an email from CVUSD to NPHS staff said.
The school administration, cafeteria staff and police department worked together to resolve the issue. “Everything was carried out smoothly. First and foremost is the safety and security of the students on campus. Putting something on lockdown is not what you always want to do, but when there is security issues involved, we will do that every single time,” Joe Ramirez, the school resource officer and deputy at Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, said.
Due to the new lockdown policy created last year, students were informed that there was a low level threat; the administration hopes that this system will reduce panic and help things run more smoothly in tense situations. “We have the different levels to put everyone at ease,” Steve Lepire, principal, said. “When we say that it is at a green level, it means that there is no need for worrying and that teachers can continue to teach with their blinds open.”
Joseph Sullivan, senior, felt that the new system was helpful in maintaining a calm environment in class. “The administration was confident and did not raise tension as they had done before,” Sullivan said. “This time it was very calm. Having a lower level lockdown provides security but doesn’t raise tension, and having a higher level lockdown will raise tension to a degree, but also provides crucial information to the students.”
The largest challenge that the administration faces in preventing anxiety with regard to lockdown threats is the spread of misinformation. “What we can’t control is when individuals are texting their parents and saying that they heard this or that when we don’t even know how they would have heard any of those things,” Lepire said. “That makes it more difficult to trust the announcement for something like a green level threat.”
School staff and administration hope to continue to improve how they respond to emergencies and protect the students. “It’s a constant learning and changing situation, so it’s not that what we have implaced is the one and only way. But, for now I think it is a really good start for us to look at our safety measures,” Kelly Welch, assistant principal of campus safety, said.
“The goal has always been to get better at what we do,” said Lepire. “We want to make sure that we can keep the anxiety level as low as possible for the students.”
