VANCOUVER, Wash. — Police say a high school student with a gun is to blame for a scary situation at two Vancouver schools last week. Now Evergreen district leaders are taking some heat from the community for how they handled the situation.
The incident happened Thursday, Oct. 18, when police say a teenager fired a handgun on campus. Since then, criticism from some has been building, especially over the way the district communicated about the emergency event, which affected both Evergreen High School and Cascade Middle School.
Nobody was hit by the gunfire, and students who'd been placed on lockdown were eventually released to their parents after being bused away to the Evergreen Public Schools district offices.
We've since learned that it was a high school student with a gun who police say fired the weapon from the parking lot of McKenzie Stadium, which is district property adjacent to the campuses of both schools.
The student had been involved in another altercation on campus earlier that day.
Since then, students have walked out of class in protest at Evergreen High School, accompanying criticism from some parents and staff members over the way the district communicated about the incident.
Those concerns boiled over at a school board meeting Wednesday night, with some parents complaining about a lack of information, suggesting district leaders were downplaying what happened.
“Do not split hairs with this community. My child is not OK. I am not OK. This community is not OK — we deserve better,” one mother of students told board members and Superintendent John Boyd.
“While I understand the necessity of preventing panic, I grew increasingly concerned about the lack of transparency about the events and dangers being communicated by district leadership,” said another parent.
And one Evergreen teacher, surrounded by those he described as colleagues, said things did not go perfectly.
“A lockdown was made using a panic button that staff and students were unfamiliar with, previous 'Run, Hide, Fight' training was not followed, staff received the same emails as parent for updates," said Steven Taylor.
Evergreen Public Schools provided KGW with a list of communications from the individual schools and the district, a series of nine messages they say gave more information as it became available, including the specific location where the shots were fired.
The district also released a written statement:
“On Thursday, our school and district staff followed safety protocols, remained calm, worked with law enforcement and kept everyone safe inside the building until law enforcement advised them it was safe to release students. These protocols were successful.
"The school and the district sent out multiple communications to the Evergreen High School and Cascade Middle School communities on Thursday sharing information as it became available. In the letter that Superintendent Boyd sent to all EPS families and staff on Thursday night he included the details and exact location where law enforcement said that the gunshots were reported to have been fired.
"It was important to share the exact location so people could differentiate the factual details shared by law enforcement from inaccurate information that was being shared in some social media posts which included posts that said the gunshots were fired in the school.”
At the board meeting, Superintendent Boyd thanked critics for sharing their concerns, and acknowledged the stress that started with the gunfire.
“I do want to say I’m sorry that this happened, I’m sorry you experienced that, I’m sorry for the trauma and pain it has caused you and your families,” Boyd said.
Boyd also thanked staff for keeping everyone safe, adding that as with any event like this, it will be evaluated for any ways to improve.