A malfunction in the school’s alarm lockdown system caused a panic, which resulted in police being contacted, and students hiding in classrooms. On Monday, Jan. 22, a lockdown was called from the North entrance.

This resulted in the police being contacted, the school’s lockdown protocol being activated, and students and staff locking themselves in classrooms, out of sight. All of the metal doors throughout the school closed and locked, and the sliding doors that close off areas of the school also closed.

Additionally, staff members received a text message that stated that a lockdown had been activated, and the police arrived within three minutes. Unfortunately, admin have no idea why the lockdown was activated, but the alarm has since been reset.

The several false alarms that happened in the 2022-2023 school year, along with the few that have happened this school year, may have caused some students to take lockdowns less seriously. In response, Principal Jessica Grable said, “I hope that they don’t. Take everyone of them seriously. I came out of the office within ten seconds and didn’t hear or see another human, even though they were [confused].”

Despite the repeated false alarms that have sent students into a panic, students have still followed the lockdown protocol by staying out of sight. Once they were in the classrooms though, they had some trouble staying serious. Senior Ridge Kayser said, “It’s hard to take the alarms seriously when they keep happening for no reason. Either way I still do what I’m supposed to just in case it is real.” Kayser sets a good example for students by treating every alarm like it is one hundred percent real.

Sophomore Louden Kindsfater said, “How are we supposed to know if a lockdown or any other emergency is real, when the alarm keeps going off for no reason?”

Hopefully the school can fix whatever problem is causing these false alarms so that students and teachers can be absolutely sure that the security of their school is strong.