PIASA – The Southwestern School District has sent a follow-up to today's early dismissal to parents within its district.
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In the email, which was provided to Riverbender by a parent in the district, Southwestern Superintendent Brad Skertich said law enforcement was contacted and the district's emergency plan was activated due to a threat at the high school and middle school. The individual behind that threat as been identified by both law enforcement and school officials, and the email said the district believes the threat to be an isolated incident.
However, due to an abundance of caution, the district will take the following actions, effective as of Thursday March 28, 2019:
The high school and middle school will be on lock-down, law enforcement will be present on campus screenings will be conducted prior to entering either the high school or middle school facilities, book bags and athletic bags will be searched and visitors will not be allowed.
All questions to the district may be sent to (618) 372-3813, ext. 0.
The parent who sent Riverbender.com said the incident may have come from the app, Snapchat, but this could not be confirmed at this time. That parent also stated the district handled its emergency response Wednesday well, saying picking up children from the Brighton North campus was orderly.
Students who did not drive or take the bus to school were evacuated to the Brighton North campus following an 11 a.m. dismissal at both the middle school and the high school regarding that threat.
There was also a “soft lock-down” on Tuesday due to an alleged threat posed for after-school hours, according to another email sent by a district parent to Riverbender.com. It is not known at this time if these two incidents are related.
Calls to both the district and Macoupin County Sheriff's Office placed earlier in the day were answered with “no comment,” but later calls to the district office said a statement from the district would come soon. No charges have been released to Riverbender.com at this time. The nature of the threat is also not known.
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