School lockdowns often precautionary measure

They are unsettling words that no parent wants to hear: Your child’s school is on lockdown. But maybe that’s a good thing, as lockdowns are often a precaution.

How often are we seeing lockdowns at Las Vegas Valley schools, and under what circumstances are they initiated?

Capt. Ken Young of the Clark County School District Police Department said situations arise that warrant a school go into lockdown more often than one might think.

“We get them weekly, for a variety of reasons,” Young said. “More often than not, local law enforcement has an emergency in the area. It could be an outstanding person; a barricade in a residence. For those reasons, we’d do a lockdown … to limit kids moving in and around the area.”

He said lockdowns can be as short as 10 minutes to lasting for hours. What was the longest one he could recall?

“In my 25 years, the time span was … four hours,” Young said.

He said that particular instance was a barricade situation in North Las Vegas about six years ago. Another barricade situation transpired in the Flamingo and Paradise roads area about a year ago.

“But they happen all around the city, in no one particular area,” Young said.

Once a school is locked up and secure, it’s up to an administrator, such as the principal, to advise the students’ families. Parents are alerted by the principal by instant messaging — emails, text, voice mail, whatever method is most expedient. Contacting parents has never been easier with everyone carrying a cellphone, Young added.

“As we’ve evolved electronically, the messages are getting out quicker,” he said.

Every lockdown does not warrant parental notice. In some cases, the situation could be short-lived so that by mid-day, it’s over and is not going to affect pick-up times. When that happens, a notice may not go out to alert parents. Only when they come to pick up their children are they apprised of what happened earlier, so they are aware.

“We just had one in the area of Owens (Avenue) and Robin (Street),” Young said. “That one lasted about 3½ hours.”

When a lockdown is happening, Michael Wilson, emergency management director for the school district police department, said he acts as the liaison with the school to keep it apprised of what’s happening. Every situation is different and fluid as things progress, he said.

“We involve the school police and administrators (in information), that way they know the best action to take,” Wilson said.

LaChel Burton picks up four children from Deskin Elementary, 4550 N. Pioneer Way, every day: two kindergarten students, a second-grader and a fourth-grader. She said she had no idea that the school district sees roughly one school lockdown a week.

How would she feel if she got a notice that the school was on lockdown?

“It would depend on what the lockdown was for,” she said. “But I’ve never gotten notice of one here (at Deskin). … I do see (reports) of that on the news. It’s scary as a parent to see that stuff.”

Scott Weissinger has been a school attendance officer for 25 years at various schools. He said a soft lockdown would be for situations such as searching for someone, “like if they pulled over a DUI, and the guy took off running, and they don’t know the whereabouts of that individual. Because you don’t know what that entails, why he ran.”

Weissinger said if a serious situation, such as a barricade involving weapons, was taking place near a school with portables, those students would be taken to a more secure location, such as a gymnasium.

“Every situation’s different,” he said. “It’s kind of like if you have something like that (a possible shooter) — they’re going to come in here and see that those kids are in a secure (place).”

Wilson said it’s best that parents not come to the school during the lockdown, as they could be putting themselves in a dangerous situation. Once the lockdown is lifted, another message goes out to parents that it’s safe to come retrieve their children.

“The biggest thing for parents is that if the school goes into lockdown, their children are safe,” Young said. “We take all the necessary precautions to ensure their safety, and the staff members take every step to ensure the students’ needs are being met. That’s the most important thing: that the kids are safe.”

To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.