Tiverton High School officials detail new safety measures. See what's planned

TIVERTON — Following two closely timed incidents at Tiverton High School, the School Committee and Superintendent Peter Sanchioni revealed new measures the school and district are taking to improve student safety.

“Be assured we remain resilient and committed to ensuring our students enjoy a safe, nurturing and educational environment,” School Committee Chair Jerome Larkin told the public at the meeting Thursday night. “We are all here to make our schools safer and the experience of our children in our schools better. There are no easy answers.”

The nearly three-hour meeting was mostly dedicated to public comment, as Tiverton students, parents and some staff members got up to criticize and question the school district and high school’s handling of the two safety incidents that happened at Tiverton High School within a two-week span in mid-January and early February. The administration was mainly criticized for lax school security, under-training students on what to do in intruder situations and detail-lacking and untimely communications on safety situations to parents and students alike.

Before the public comment section, however, Sanchioni addressed both incidents and detailed the administration’s plan to address safety concerns at the school.

The school's account of the intruder scare and bomb threat

In Sanchioni’s presentation, he recounted the events which led to the arrest of an intruder at the high school on Feb. 1. He said the intruder entered the school at 7:18 a.m. with help from another student and hid in the bathroom for 21 minutes before a teacher discovered him on the third floor.

Afterward, students began reporting the unknown person’s presence to the assistant principal, who then went to look for the intruder. Students helped identify the intruder as a now-homeschooled student who attended the high school as recently as November and lacked a “history of substantial discipline.” The intruder was later discovered by a teacher and walked to the main office and at 8:14 a.m., two minutes after the assistant principal called the police, the principal issued a lockdown order because the intruder had tried to exit the main office area.

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Police arrived at 8:16 a.m. and parents received information about the incident at 8:28 a.m.

Sanchioni said Tiverton High School followed its “Intruder Who Does Not Pose A Safety Hazard” policy during the events of Feb. 1, which has staff intercept the intruder, walk them to the office and report the incident to the police. If the intruder seems agitated, the staff are asked to call the police for assistance and, if the intruder tries to leave before the police arrive, staff are not to attempt to detain or fight the person, rather they are supposed to follow the person at a safe distance to see what direction they are headed in.

As for the bomb threat, which was received at 4 a.m. on Jan. 10, Sanchioni said the principal immediately called the police who deemed the threat non-credible, checked the cameras and swept the building for threats. Parents received information at 9:43 a.m.

A new plan for intruder situations at Tiverton High School

As a result of the intruder scare, Sanchioni said the school plans to change its “Intruder Who Does Not Pose A Safety Hazard” procedure.

• The school will now announce there is an unwanted party on site and initiate a full lockdown as soon as an intruder is discovered.

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• Principals throughout Tiverton School District are now designated as the ones to give lockdown announcements, as Sanchioni said the person who gave the announcement on Feb. 1 was untrained and added extra language during the event. Principals will be trained in how to give lockdown announcements and backup personnel will also be given a script in case the principal is involved in the incident.

• Sanchioni promised to provide high school and middle school students with ALICE training, as several students said they did not know what to do in an intruder situation as it was happening. ALICE, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate, is a procedure typically used in the case of an active shooter situation. Tiverton High School staff are annually trained in ALICE.

The presentation claimed high school personnel are now assigned to locations the high school administration has deemed vulnerable locations, such as doors not already monitored by someone. Sanchioni said all of the doors at the high school are locked and have alarms, however it was later revealed during the meeting that the alarm on the door the intruder used to get into the building was not active at that time.

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Sanchioni also told parents and residents the schools would continue to hold lockdown drills. Later in the meeting, the principals for each school elaborated on how many drills they have held this school year. Tiverton Middle School has held two lockdown drills, Pocasset Elementary held four lockdown drills, Ranger Elementary held four lockdown drills and one evacuation drill and Fort Barton Elementary has held one lockdown drill. There was some confusion over whether the high school had held a drill, which senior students claimed had not occurred since their freshman year.

The school administration are also planning to incorporate safety features into the design of the renovated locker room and physical education areas, an ongoing construction project which is expected to be completed this year.

After the loss of the school district’s Student Resource Officer drew concern over a lack of police presence at the school, the district began negotiating a new Memorandum of Understanding with the police department to have an officer present at all times Tiverton High School is open. The department also revealed Tiverton Police Department Officer Jessica Anderson to step in as the temporary Student Resource Officer.

Lastly, the administration is reevaluating its communication plan. They plan to coordinate with the police for consistency in messaging, be more timely while balancing the need to communicate details to the community and the need to not incite hysteria, and utilize text and robocalls to disseminate information.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Tiverton High School safety measures detailed following incidents