Jacksonville Middle School families received a scare yesterday after the building went on lockdown.
According to an announcement published by Superintendent Steve Ptacek yesterday afternoon, a staff member initiated a full building lockdown at JMS due to a student medical emergency. There wasn’t any school threat.
Ptacek said he received immediate questions on why the building went on lockdown for one student afterwards. Ptacek says the Centegix Alert System now installed in all of the district’s school buildings has an option on a keyfob holder to place an immediate alert to building and central office administration which puts the building on lockdown, and immediately contacts 9-1-1 for an emergency response from local first responders.
Ptacek said given the specifics of the situation yesterday he would not second guess the response of a staff member in the heat of the moment when a student needs an “all hands on deck” response for an emergency. He says he understands the amount of stress and uncertainty that a lockdown amongst students, staff, and parents creates, but he says that the first priority of everyone in the district is the safety of students.
No further information about the event has been released.