March 10, 2016
Dear Westerville City School District Families:
You may have heard about a lockdown at Westerville South this morning. Thankfully, the matter was a false alarm that is best characterized as a misunderstanding of what a student witnessed, which turned into a series of rumors.
Some Westerville South students are involved in a physics experiment in which students wear weighted vests. The vest has several pockets that hold the weights. Upon seeing a student wearing this vest, the rumor began to spread that someone had a weapon in the school and was wearing a bullet-proof tactical vest. Police advised school officials that the building should be secured in a lockdown while they conducted their investigation. Subsequently, they determined there was no threat to the building. The lockdown lasted approximately 20 minutes.
Please take this opportunity to reinforce to your students the importance of notifying school officials of any safety concerns. This is a critical first step if we are to maintain a safe, orderly learning environment in our schools. Unfortunately, this situation was not reported to school officials immediately, which resulted in significant rumors and speculation about the matter.
Sincerely,
Debbie Meissner, Director
HR, Health & Safety Services