On the morning of Feb. 6, students approached administrators at the Robert J. Kaiser Middle School with a video clip of an area resident making verbal threats against the school district. The nature of the threats was not disclosed.
The administrative team proceeded to immediately place the middle school and connected high school campus on lockout out of precaution and notified the Monticello Police Department. After reviewing the video further, the lockout was extended to all Monticello schools “out of an abundance of caution.”
During a lockout, the perimeter of the school building is secured and no one is allowed in our out. Due to the timing of the lockout, buses, which were en route to the elementary schools, needed to be diverted to an off-site area to await further instruction.
Police said that the lockout was lifted at approximately 10 a.m., at which point the buses returned to the schools and parents were able to drop students off at the building.
“Student safety is always our No. 1 priority,” Schools Superintendent Tammy Mangus said. “We are fortunate to have had the help and support of the MPD, our internal staff and the staff at the off-site location who helped navigate us through this incident with professionalism and care.”
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