Students in several Burlington schools have experienced multiple lockdowns since Monday. School Superintendent Pat Coen said each lockdown was warranted, adding that he will always err on the side of caution when it comes to safety.
Monday, Feb. 18
The district said Burlington High School and nearby Edward Stone Middle School were placed on lockdown for nearly one hour, starting at 9:05 a.m. The lockdown limited who could exit/enter the schools and where students were allowed to be within the buildings.
Coen said the lockdown was initiated after a student saw someone in the high school parking lot with what appeared to be a gun. He said the gun turned out to be a paintball gun.
“Two young, 16-year-old boys were out at the paintball facility over the weekend,” said Coen. “They left the guns in the trunk of one of the cars. One of the students was just giving the gun back to the other student so they could put it in the trunk of their car.”
Coen said even though it did not turn out to be an emergency, the student who reported seeing the gun did the right thing.
“It’s see something, say something,” said Coen. “We can’t be negative towards a person that calls something in because we want to keep that communication open and supported and encouraged.”
Tuesday, Feb. 19
The district announced three lockdowns on its Facebook page: Burlington High School, Aldo Leopold Middle School, and Edward Stone Middle School.
Coen said these lockdowns were not the result of threats or potential violence but rather scheduled searches by law enforcement and K9 units.
“Every school I have every worked at does this,” said Coen. “It is just a reminder that drugs are not welcome in our school. And I am very happy to report that we had zero hits from the drug dogs during the searches.”
Wednesday, Feb. 20
The district announced that Edward Stone Middle School was locked down at about 10:00 a.m. after a student found two bullets in a common area of the school.
“We picked [the bullets] up and nobody was talking about them,” said Coen. “We had the kids stay put and we [along with Burlington police] searched the building to make sure there were no guns or other ammunition, which there was not. It was not that we were worried to the point that we needed the police. The police had the time to come in and help us out.”
Coen said law enforcement determined the .22 caliber bullets were different brands so, at the recommendation of Major Darren Grimshaw, the district’s announcement of the lockdown on social media mentioned the rounds were “.22 caliber shorts.”
“Within ten minutes of the announcement being sent out, a parent called,” said Coen. He said the parent mentioned the family had recently done some target shooting and they thought the bullets might have fallen out of their child’s coat.
Coen said district staff talked to the child, who said it was an accident. He said the student would not be punished for bringing the bullets into the school, adding that it was important for the district to know the bullets were brought in by accident and not with malicious intent.
Coen said he’s pleased with how staff has handled each incident this week and how the students reacted as well.
