In a lengthy update to students and parents Monday on several issues, Aaron was critical of rumors that were wrongly spread last week in reaction to the arrest Thursday of a CHS student with an air gun and knife.
Her note stated, in part:
Hello from early June at CHS!
Thank you to the many families who have reached out this week to let us know how their students are doing in light of the recent events at CHS and MMS. We regret the choices that students and their families have made that led to the incidents and assure you that we work every day to make sure conditions at CHS are safe and secure for teaching and learning.
To that end, please know that CHS, contrary to rumors and online conversations, was not at any time in a lockdown on Thursday. Information about a student in potential possession of a weapon – real or otherwise – had already led to that student being safely with school administrators when I made the decision to place CHS students and staff into a “Code Yellow”. A “Code Yellow” is a ‘shelter-in-place’ status in which we ask all to remain where they are with closed doors so that we may make any decisions we need to in order to manage the building and the situation without interference. As we continued to work with the Police, we continued to update the staff and students periodically over our PA system, letting them know to continue instruction, and within about 15 minutes, we were able to let them know we were anticipating release from the Code Yellow. Please take a moment to review with your student that it is critical in any emergency situation that students listen to and follow all directions from their teachers and any other staff in charge during such a situation. The smooth and safe end to our Code Yellow – and your students’ attention to our state-mandated drills each month - is testament to our students’ good decision-making and we thank you and them for it.
Also contrary to the rumors, there have not been “three weeks of fights” or “fights every day” or “nine fights in one week” at CHS. Over the past week, a very small number of students chose to start and/or resolve conflict with violence. Two of the altercations happened off-school grounds. One happened outside during lunch, and one happened when two students chose to disregard school rules about where they were supposed to be during class time. This past Friday was a smooth and regular school day at CHS. While our average daily absentee rate was a bit higher than usual, nowhere near “half of Columbia” stayed home. In fact, it seemed to us that students were being particularly aware of the need to be thoughtful and considerate to our staff and each other throughout the day. We are proud of them.
We regret the choices a very small number of students made last week that so negatively impacted many of us, and our school administrators, support, guidance, and counseling staff continue to offer multiple routes to conflict resolution and mediation for all of our students and their parents and guardians. We thank and continue to work with the Maplewood and South Orange police departments when students break the law. Students who break school rules and state laws will encounter consequences as appropriate.
On Friday morning, I addressed our students about the lockdown and weapon recovery at Maplewood Middle School. I reminded students that the drills we engage in at school, as required by state law, are so that in the event of a situation such as ours on Thursday yesterday, all staff and students are protected as law enforcement agencies do their work. I also reminded students of the high expectations we have for their behavior, our commitment to their safety and learning, and our focus on learning through our final exams. My remarks to students in such a public venue is, of course, general to protect the privacy of students involved in these events.
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