By Associated Press
ELNORA — A security breach occurred on the North Daviess Junior-Senior High School campus last week and at least one parent was upset at Monday’s North Daviess School Board meeting.
Parent Heather Rhue asked board members why parents weren’t notified when three juvenile males were seen roaming the halls of the school and were escorted to the office by teachers.
“I’m very disappointed to hear the incident,” Rhue said. “I feel the parents should have been sent a letter to them to follow up on what they are doing to follow up, to keep their kids safe.”
Superintendent Robert Bell, during the meeting, gave the details of the incident, where three males came into the building. One student tried to register, while the other two males roamed the halls. Teachers saw the subjects and alerted school administrators.
“The other two (males) went down the hallway to look for a girl,” Bell said after the meeting. “A teacher saw them and told them to go to the office.”
Rhue said she talked with Bell and board member Brad Roark on the phone after her concerns were raised. She thanked them for taking the time to talk with her about the matter, but was disappointed in administrators.
“I was disappointed that our principal (Jed Jerrels) lacked action in that aspect,” Rhue said.
Since the incident, school officials have cordoned off student hallways and all visitors are to report to the office.
Board president Darin Holder said they were made aware of what happened and said incidents like last week’s can happen at times. They took the matter seriously, he told Rhue.
“There were aspects of it that were brought to our attention,” Holder said. “Without a doubt when you have an open, public setting, you can’t lock it down 100 percent all the time. When the kids are in the building, we need to do everything we can.”
Bell went on to say that some changes to security measures are taking place internally and they are looking into adding further equipment.
“All we can do as a school is do better,” Bell said. “And we are doing better.”
The school is also looking into a newer entry system, including one where visitors have to be buzzed in by staff after they are seen on camera.
“We have some grant money to pay for that,” Bell said.
