An important message
from Monticello High School Principal Arleene Siegel regarding
the recent threat of violence at Monticello High School
I am writing this letter to share
the information about an incident that occurred earlier this
week. On Saturday, May 3, at approximately 11 a.m., it was
brought to the attention of the high school administration that
some threatening graffiti was found in one of the student
bathrooms. In this case, the graffiti concerned a threat of
violence that was to take place on Monday, May 5.
School officials immediately put into place the district’s
threat of violence protocol. The police were notified and a
thorough sweep of the building was conducted – nothing was
found. Law enforcement personnel advised the school not to make
this information public at that time.
During the past few days, we have continued to investigate the
situation thoroughly. Though the investigation showed that the
threat had no merit, we still followed through with our
protocols. Every evening and morning the building was searched.
We restricted the entrance and exit times for students in the
building. We put students on pass restriction and made sure all
movements of students were monitored. Our staff was asked to do
a sweep of their rooms for anything unusual. As an added
precaution, we had our safety staff recheck all rooms, hallways
and closets.
Police were stationed at the doors when students came in on
Monday morning. We felt strongly that because of one
irresponsible student, we were not going to disrupt the
education of the other 1,200.
In addition, there was a violent incident that occurred at
Stewart’s Shop in Monticello on Sunday night that concerned some
students. We instituted our Crisis Procedure and informed
teachers that students could be escorted to see their guidance
counselors if they needed to talk about this violent incident.
We will continue to be on alert and have a pass restriction on
Tuesday, May 6.
We were extremely vigilant and followed the advice of our law
enforcement officials. We need to commend our teachers, safety
staff, custodians and students for their cooperation.
This is a good time to talk with your children about the serious
consequences of making such threats. This is also a good time to
remind them to immediately tell an adult if they have any reason
to believe there is ever a safety concern at their school.
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