Jacksonville High School went on a hard lock down yesterday afternoon after a classroom issue resulted in a full alert for the school’s security system.
Superintendent Steve Ptacek says that a staff member made the errant activation of the alert resulting in a full response from the Jacksonville Police Department. Ptacek said in a message to parents on Monday afternoon that the Centegix system properly alerted authorities of the event, provided a map of the school to the potential threat on their phones, and gave Jacksonville Police Dispatch access to JHS’s security system cameras to view the location of the event within 30 seconds of receiving the alert.
Ptacek apologized for the stress that it may have caused the community and one minor problem. The alert at JHS triggered the intercom and light system at Washington Elementary school. There was never a button pressed at Washington and never an event at the elementary school. Ptacek says that following the renovation at Washington, an incorrect setting was made to their Centegix system that linked up to the high school. Ptacek says that the district’s IT staff is already working to correct the problem.
Ptacek says that the result of this event reassured both the local police and the school district that the new security system works as it’s intended.