MEET THE BAUMANN SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS
SCHOOLS
Did students get the 411 about the fugitives?
BY
DANIELA CINALI
Students arrived to a peculiar scene at Fox Lane High School on the morning of Thursday, March 11. Earlier in the day, shortly after 3 am, the Bedford Police had been on the lookout for three fugitives. At 6:30 that same morning, Stephen Falcone, the Fox Lane High School principal, received an urgent telephone call informing him that because the escapees might have been near the periphery of the campus, the entire school must be on guard that day.
The primary concern for the high school faculty and staff was safety. The Fox Lane High School crisis team, composed of adults from all areas of the building, met before the school day began in order to formulate a plan of action.
"The crisis team is a group of faculty, staff, teachers, social workers, security monitors, guidance counselors, deans, assistant principals, etc, whose purpose it is to respond to a crisis in a quick, efficient, effective and thoughtful way," explained Dr. Falcone.
By the start of school at 7:45 a.m., numerous safety measures had been implemented to ensure the student safety and the security of the campus, including helicopters patrolling the skies overhead, state troopers stationed at various points near the building, local police on campus, as well as all security guards patrolling the high school hallways to make sure that no students were out of their classes. The school also issued a Code Yellow that morning, meaning that all students were to remain in classrooms, with the door and windows shut. In essence, the school was under a lockdown.
With all of this unusual activity and rumors flying as to why there were helicopters overhead and police officers on campus, the question arises as to whether students were properly notified about what was happening, and whether or not this contributed to a feeling of being protected in their educational environment. Were the principal's announcements and the, bits of information that were leaked throughout the day enough to properly alert most students? Or did inadequate information cause students to be suspicious or uneasy as they saw uniformed officers walking around the ,hallways? Through speaking with various students it became clear that although many felt that they had not received many details on the incident, they had. been informed of the safety measures being taken and felt perfectly safe at school.
"They didn't really give us an entirely structured statement on what was going on," said senior Kevin Moore. "But I knew that I wasn't in any danger at school anyway."
As the principal, Dr. Falcone had a difficult role in determining how best to inform his students.
"My decisions on what to tell students when an event such as this occurs are based primarily on two things, he said. "The first is the degree to which my information is accurate. I need to have confirmation on what I am about to say. The second is that I must be sensitive to people's emotional response. I consider the high school students as young adults; therefore, I know that they can handle a lot of information."
In order to notify the students of the situation at hand, Dr. Falcone handled the broadcast announcements during first period and continued to update everyone throughout the day. According to Dr. Falcone, the purpose of the announcements was to brief everyone on what was happening and to reassure students that the school was a perfectly safe environment.
To most students, teachers and staff, the announcements were very calming.
"The announcements made me aware of what was going on - that there were precautions being taken and the like. I felt safe knowing what was happening," said freshman Alexandra Grossman.
Although many students felt that there was most likely more to the story than they had been told, the principal's announcements and various other pieces of information given to them by the school's adults were helpful in
reassuring students that they were not at risk. Many students recognized how difficult it was for the school's administration to decide rather quickly what to say to hundreds of students, and were satisfied with what they had been told.
"The information the faculty delivered to us was what was expected," said senior Robert Barish, "Though no specific details were given out, we knew by the information we received that there wasn't a disaster - no one panicked."
"Even though there were some parts of the story missing that I later found out about, I felt perfectly safe at school," said sophomore Dpvid Schecter.
Other students said they felt slightly shaken up but knew by the information given to them that they were protected.
"Yeah, I mean it was a scary situation," said one freshman. "The announcements were helpful even though I knew they were holding some stuff back, at least students knew that there were safety measures being taken so that they wouldn't have to worry "
At the end of the school day, students returned safely to their homes. This, no doubt, was the priority of everyone at the high school. It can be said that although students may not have received all the information available on the incident, most knew they were in no danger while at school. Once home, students could turn on the television or radio and learn more about why they had been cooped up in the classrooms all day.