By Shannon Lukens.

 

UPDATE at 11 a.m. Wednesday: Here is a more in-depth look at the lockdown and current issues happening at Steamboat Springs High School in an article written by Dylan Anderson with the Steamboat Pilot and Today. LINK TO ARTICLE

 

UPDATE from Superintendent Brad Meeks at 9:11 a.m. Wednesday morning, May 25.

Good morning,

The following is the letter that went out to parents this morning (Wednesday). Last night, the letter we sent you was a draft and did not go out as planned. We are sorry for the confusion. We are trying to communicate with you as things are happening, our team had some additions, and we wanted to honor those changes.

As a point of correction to one of the stories, I did meet with admin staff at the building this Tuesday, May 24, and again this morning. This is an ongoing review.

Dear SSHS Parents,

We want to provide some important details regarding the incident last week at the school.

Friday, May 20, 2022, was the last day of school for seniors. The Senior Slideshow was scheduled to begin at 11:20 a.m. Shortly before 11 a.m., there was some commotion in the main office area towards the commons. Many seniors had entered the building and were preparing to do a “Senior Run Through.” Some of the seniors began running towards the doors that lead to the Emerald and Spring Creek pods. The incident escalated rapidly, vandalism was actively occurring in the building and since the event was not planned, announced, and happened without warning, there was a legitimate concern for the safety and welfare of the students. Earlier on Friday, school administration and the school resource officer searched the building for someone who was reportedly trespassing, adding to the heightened concern. One of the assistant principals hit the lockdown button to reduce the number of students running through the pod areas and ensure the safety of all the students in the building. According to the high school office team, the “Senior Run Through” has not happened in three years and is typically planned with the class advisors.

There were some concerns about whether or not to continue with the Senior Slideshow. However, after everyone calmed down, the slideshow was shown as planned. Anytime a lockdown is necessary, it causes concern, and communication is a key to keeping people informed. The lockdown was executed to keep students safe in the classrooms and prevent further damage and disruption until the incident was under control. The building and district administration met with Superintendent Meeks on Tuesday, May 24, to review the matter, including the lockdown process and our communication protocols to staff, students, and parents.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Rick Elertson
Dennis Alt
Luke DeWolfe

 

UPDATE from Superintendent Brad Meeks at 5:42 p.m. Tuesday.

This is the letter sent to parents from SSHS Administration: Senior Run Through and Lockdown

Friday, May 20, 2022, was the last day of school for seniors. The Senior Slideshow was scheduled to begin at 11:20 am.

Shortly before 11:00 am, there was some commotion in the main office area towards the commons. Many seniors had entered the building and were preparing to do a “Senior Run Through.” Some of the seniors began running towards the doors that lead to the Emerald and Spring Creek pods. One of the assistant principals was concerned for student safety, and that damage was occurring to the school. He hit the lockdown button to reduce the number of students running through the pod areas and minimize the risk to students. According to the high school office team, the “Senior Run Through” has not happened in three years and is typically planned with the class advisors.

There were some concerns about whether or not to continue with the Senior Slideshow. However, after everyone calmed down, the slideshow was shown as planned. Anytime a lockdown is necessary, it causes concern, and communication is a key to keeping people informed. The lockdown was executed to keep students safe in the classrooms and prevent further damage and disruption until the incident was under control. The building and district administration are reviewing the matter, including the lockdown process and our communication protocols to staff, students, and parents.

Dr. Meeks says, “In addition, we will continue to work with the high school administration on the review of the protocols and communication, including the one releasing students and staff from their classrooms independently by an authorized person. Students, staff and parents need to be confident that the practiced procedures are followed, especially when the unexpected lockdown occurs.  As I mentioned in our meeting, we debrief each of these events to see what worked well and what didn’t.  As noted, the protocols at the end of the event need to reviewed when it came time to release people from the classrooms.”

UPDATE: An anonymous high school junior also set up a petition asking for change, at Change.org

 

ORIGINAL POST, Tuesday evening, May 24

A school lockdown at Steamboat Springs High School last Friday, May 20, caused panic for some of the staff and students. It was not a planned drill. Four students, one teacher, and a parent spoke to Steamboat Springs School Board about what happened at Monday night’s board meeting. Here’s SSHS Junior Pacey Kuhlman.

 

“This one was an automated voice going on, there was like an alarm that went off at first, and there are blue lights flashing in the hallway. That’s what happens when an actual lockdown is going on, when something dangerous is happening. And then all of a sudden, my class and all of the other classes started hearing screaming and running. At that point, we were all extremely terrified and scared.”

The screaming and running she heard was from the Senior Class of 2022, doing the traditional senior run-through. That’s where the students of the graduating class take two laps running through the high school, celebrating their last day of school.

Senior Kaylyn Benson said the students had been told by Principal Rick Elertson not to have the run-through. When they did it anyway, the lockdown was called, right when it started.

Here’s junior Katie McLaughlin.

“But for the few seconds where I had only heard the lockdown (drill) and heard screaming in the distance, I had so much fear and panic instilled in my body that I did not know what to do. And it is unimaginable to think of the students that did not get to see the seniors run by and got no context as to what was going on and only heard screaming and the lockdown (drill). It was extremely realistic. There was no other explanation, especially with the screaming. And I know for a fact that there were students that never even saw the seniors go by and probably had a real traumatic moment of fear.”

The girls all told the school board Monday night about what happened Friday.

Other parents spoke as did teacher Ryan Ayala who said the students in his classroom were struggling and confused and no one came to open the classroom doors. He said the lockdown, “forced them to fear their school was under attack.” Ayala added that it was “unconscionable and not right to have an administrator call a lockdown without a purpose.”

 

We reached out to high school administration and Superintendent Brad Meeks. Dr. Meeks said he planned to meet with administration this coming Tuesday, May 31, to review the specific incident, procedures for triggering a lockdown, and communication protocols. But in a letter to staff and parents Tuesday afternoon, the board wrote that Dr. Meeks met with high school and district administration today to ensure that lockdown triggers, protocol, and communication are widely understood.” In an email to Steamboat Radio, he added, “I feel confident that our staff would initiate a lockdown only with students’ safety in mind.”

In a letter to parents and staff Tuesday afternoon, the Steamboat Springs School Board said about Monday night’s meeting:  “In public comment, several students and staff members spoke about the lockdown and associated incident at the high school on Friday. The superintendent has been working with those involved to understand the details of the circumstances. Today, Dr. Meeks met with high school and district administration to ensure that lockdown triggers, protocol, and communication are widely understood. The health and safety of our students are a priority. Also, during public comment, staff spoke about the situation at SSHS. We still believe the next step is through a facilitation process. We feel we have a strong potential candidate for a facilitator with the right experience to work with SSHS teams – administration and staff. We contacted references on Monday. The next step is for staff members and administration to schedule calls with the facilitator to gain comfort with the selection this week. The board will give a full update on the progress at the June 13 board meeting.”

 

Senior Kaylyn Benson said that at this Saturday’s SSHS graduation ceremony, she will not be shaking Principal Elertson’s hand.

 

 

From the Steamboat Springs School District website, there is a document of SRP K12 Operation Guidelines 2015, which includes lockdown procedures.

Link to SRP K12 Operation Guidelines 2015

 

Quotes from the handbook include, “LOCKDOWN CONDITION. Lockdown is called when there is a threat or hazard inside the school building. From parental custody disputes to intruders to an active shooter, Lockdown uses classroom security to protect students and staff from threat.”

• Dangerous animal within school building
• Intruder
• Angry or violent parent or student
• Active shooter

 

“PUBLIC ADDRESS — The public address for Lockdown is: “Lockdown! Locks, Lights, Out of Sight!” and is repeated twice each time the public address is performed.” Also, “Teachers and student training reinforces the practice on not opening the classroom door, once in Lockdown. Rather, no indication of occupancy should be revealed until first responders open the door.”

Students and staff members at the school board meeting said this did not happen.