Two days after threats of violence were made at a school, Northeastern Wayne officials said they were glad teachers, staff and students knew what to do.
Schools in the Northeast responded with the lockdown on August 19 after Richmond police reported that a male voice on the phone threatened to go to a local school with a bomb. Richmond, Seton Catholic and Nettle Creek schools also responded to the threat, which was later found to be implausible.
“Our teachers and staff truly performed at their highest level on this difficult day on Monday,” Principal Matthew Hicks told the Northeastern Schools Board of Education on Wednesday, August 21. “We learned a lot about our protocols on this terrible day.”
School staff are “scared but not helpless” because the school system conducts a training program for teachers and staff at the beginning of each school year. They know what to do, he said. Only new staff and teachers are at a loss, he said, and that is addressed by additional training at the district’s New Teacher Academy, which is conducted before school starts.
He pointed out that in addition to the measures taken by schools, students were using their mobile phones to let their parents know that they were safe.
Hicks said this is the second time in five years that Northeastern has had to respond to a perceived threat within the first two weeks of a new school year.
Northeastern uses protocols taught in ALICE training, which teaches five steps for responding to active shooter situations: Alert, Cordon, Inform, Counter and Evacuate, which is the acronym that gives the program its name.
Hicks said the specific procedures at Northeastern University are not discussed publicly so that potential shooters do not find out about them. Board member Keith Webster suggested the board should hold an executive session to discuss emergency security measures in confidence.
New headmaster
The board met with Holly Miller, the new assistant principal of Northeastern High School.
Miller graduated from New Castle High School in 1998, said Kelly Plank, director of curriculum and instruction. Miller attended Purdue University-Indiana University in Indianapolis and graduated with a degree in mathematics education in 2002. She received her educational leadership license from Ball State University in 2024.
Most recently, she worked as an instructional coach and secondary mathematics teacher for the New Castle Community School Corporation. She brings 13 years of experience working with students from kindergarten through high school.
Miller attended the board meeting with one of her three children. Her parents were also present.
Student performance
Plank reported on several measures of student success and compared Northeastern to the other four public school districts in Wayne County. Northeastern typically ranks in the top two in test scores.
As for attendance, Hicks said the state standard is that a student’s absence is either excused, usually with a doctor’s note, or unexcused, without a doctor’s note. There are a limited number of other reasons an absence can be considered excused, but generally even a phone call or note from the parent is not enough. The school will follow up with parents after the third absence, Plank said.
A review of performance on the ILEARN test led to an exchange between Hicks and Webster. The test assesses competency in the content standards for English/language arts and mathematics in grades three through eight.
“It’s hard to do a cartwheel when only 30.89% of students can do it,” Hicks said. “But that’s above the national average.”
Webster replied: “This statistic should motivate parents to send their children to school.”
In other business areas
- The board also learned that work to replace Northeastern Elementary School’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems could begin next summer. Hicks said the cost could be in the millions of dollars. The money will come from a bond that will be issued this year.
- Hicks received board approval to spend $45,276 from the “contingency fund” to replace the football scoreboard, which was damaged beyond repair in a recent storm. Once an insurance payment is received, it will be deposited into the contingency fund. A temporary scoreboard is in place.
- NHS Principal John Markward said he is working on a new design to replace the academic wall near the school gym. It was painted over over the summer. The new design will likely list all previous valedictorian and runner-up graduates and include more information about recent top graduates. It will be customizable when NHS moves to a new system of graduate recognition in a few years.
- The next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 18, at 6 p.m. in the Northeastern Wayne Student Union Building, 7299 US 27 N., Fountain City. The public is invited to attend.
A version of this article appeared in the August 28, 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
