Polson schools address safety
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POLSON — Following the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, parents and students around the nation have been justifiably nervous about school. But the Polson community should be pleased to learn that school administrators, the Polson Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office had already formed a district safety committee last month.
According to Polson Superintendent Linda Reksten, the Polson Police Department came to the schools asking for emergency and safety procedures at each school.
“The procedures have been in place all along,” Reksten said.
The group has already begun standardizing procedures and action plans, locating radios and instituting drills, all of which the schools will use in the new year.
Another thing to be emphasized, Reksten and Polson Police Chief Wade Nash agreed, was that all visitors to Polson schools should go in the front door, sign their name and get a visitor’s badge.
“It’s a safety precaution.” Nash said. “So you know who is coming in and going out of the schools.”
Nash has also increased PPD patrols.
He said on Dec. 17 he dealt with a rumor at Polson High School that a person planned to “shoot up” the school if the end of the world did not come on Dec. 21, the end date of the Mayan calendar.
“It was a false allegation,” Nash said.
PHS principal Rex Weltz said there were concerns, so the school worked with Nash and School Resource Officer Nate Lundeen to get to the bottom of the issue. Weltz called a school assembly and spoke with the students, letting them know there were concerns but also a lot of rumors being spread on Facebook that were not factual. Weltz asked the students not to spread rumors, but to come to a staff member if they have specific information about a threat.
“It’s not a knee-jerk reaction,” he said, adding that any student who had a concern was being taken seriously.
“We want parents to know we are safe and proactive,” Weltz said.
Social media isn’t helping, Nash agreed with Weltz, since people were plastering false rumors on Facebook. False allegations negatively affect the person named and waste police time.
“There is no threat (to Polson schools),” Nash said. “There is an infestation of drama, rumors and allegations.”
