Followup Letter to Parents and Guardians From Supt. Higgins Regarding School Safety in Ellsworth Schools

With school set to resume Monday, February 26th from the February vacation, Ellsworth Superintendent of Schools has sent another letter to parents and guardians regarding school safety in Ellsworth schools.

You can read the entire letter here. This  is a followup to the original letter that was sent on February 22nd in response to an Ellsworth High School student who was arrested for an alleged school shooting threat.

Two key paragraphs

Chief Moshier and I have maintained regular communication since he was first apprised of the threatening posts by the FBI late Wednesday afternoon. In addition to sharing information about the situation, we have also engaged in discussion on how the EPD can support regular safety precautions and procedures in place through our Emergency Management Plan by enhancing the presence and visibility of law enforcement personnel in and around our schools. Such efforts will be above and beyond services provided through the School Resource Officer (SRO) program and regular patrols by EPD officers.
Beginning Monday, in addition to the presence of the SRO, the EPD will have an on-duty officer in and out of our three schools at various times during the day. Examples of times the officer may be present are during student arrival or dismissal times, at a school recess, or during lunch periods. We are also considering other initiatives that will be discussed with school administration this week.
We are also planning to host a Public Forum on School Safety very soon. While we are still working on details, the forum will be open to all students, staff, parents, and members of the public. Goals for the session are to engage in a sharing of information on school safety and initiate a constructive discussion of additional steps to enhance safety that may be developed or implemented. Once we finalize details, we will provide notice of the date, time, and location of the forum.