[HenleyMatters] Message from Dr. Moran

[Hashisaki]

March 28, 2007




Office of the Superintendent

401 McIntire Road   Charlottesville, Virginia 22902-4596

March 28, 2007

A Message to our Community: Student Safety is a Shared Priority

As Superintendent of Albemarle County Public Schools, it is my  
priority to ensure that everycampus is a safe place for children to  
learn. During the past week, a series of bomb threats disrupted the  
learning of 2,200 Albemarle County students in our Western Feeder  
Pattern. Schools today - here and across the country - have a  
responsibility to take every safety threat very seriously. That's  
exactly what our schools have done. Bomb threats are not pranks. Bomb  
threats are felony crimes and I expect people who commit them to be  
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Today Albemarle County Police Department continues actively  
investigating leads related to bomb threats at Brownsville Elementary  
School and Henley Middle School on March 27, 2007. If a student is  
arrested as a suspect, we will conduct a parallel investigation  
following policies for student discipline that may include  
consequences up to expulsion. Police have not yet determined whether  
the March 27 bomb threats are related to those we experienced at  
Henley on March 20 and at Western Albemarle High School on March 21.

School bomb threats disrupt more than student learning; they disrupt  
the entire community. They disrupt law enforcement, they disrupt  
businesses whose employees must leave to pick-up their children from  
school, and they disrupt our families and school neighbors.  
Responding to bomb threats cost our schools and our community money  
we would rather spend in our classrooms or in proactive law enforcement.

Yesterday offered an example of the emotional, academic and community  
disruption a safety threat can cause. During their normal, early  
morning inspection of their schools, employees at Brownsville and  
Henley noticed suspicious items on their shared campus. They  
immediately called the Police Department, which determined the  
suspicious items were credible bomb threats, just as employees and  
students began to arrive at the schools. Buses and parents driving  
Brownsville and Henley students to school were directed to  
neighboring Western Albemarle High, which Police searched and  
approved as a safe location. Our hope was that students and staff  
would be allowed to return to their schools to resume learning.

When Police notified the School Division mid-morning that thoroughly  
searching the large campuses of both schools was likely to take all  
day, we decided to dismiss Brownsville and Henley students from  
Western Albemarle where they awaited approval to return to their  
schools. By 11:30 a.m., less than 75 of Brownsville and Henley's  
combined 1,100-student population remained to be picked up by parents  
or taken home on busses. In addition to these students losing a  
school day, the learning of another 1,100 Western Albemarle High  
students was disrupted as their school became the emergency shelter  
for Brownsville and Henley students, and the command center for law  
enforcement, school officials, and media.

Sixty-five law enforcement officers from numerous federal, state and  
local agencies, two bomb teams from the Virginia State Police, and 17  
explosives-detecting canines were involved in searching the  
Brownsville and Henley campuses. By 7:10 p.m., Police completed two  
thorough searches of the buildings and grounds at both schools and  
determined they were safe. Police authorized both schools to open on  
their regular schedules today and have increased their presence at  
our school sites.

Schools conduct safety drills and spend time developing and  
practicing safety plans for just these reasons. Our staff has been on  
top of the situation and well-supported by law enforcement during  
each bomb threat. During the past week, our students saw first-hand  
how the men and women in law enforcement and our schools work very  
hard to make sure they are always safe. These were points of light in  
a very frustrating, disruptive situation that I personally observed  
during my day at Western Albemarle.

Those of us who work in the schools share the frustration of our  
parents and community when safety threats cause disruption. However,  
we are confident our parents and community also share with us an  
understanding and commitment to do whatever it takes to ensure our  
students' safety at school every day. The hours of inconvenience are  
a small sacrifice for ensuring the safety of our children.

Schools are safe because educators, law enforcement, parents and  
community members work together with unity of purpose to make them  
so. It is the best preventative strategy we can use. After Spring  
Break, we will schedule a safety forum for our Western Feeder Pattern  
families and school neighbors. We hope you will join us at the forum  
to strengthen our community commitment to safe learning environments  
for our children. Check our website at http://www.k12albemarle.org/   
for event details in April.


With appreciation,



Dr. Pamela R. Moran, Superintendent


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