PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — An Everbridge Alert was sent out from Bay District Schools to parent and guardians whose students attend Cedar Grove Elementary after a student was found with a weapon.
The Everbridge Alert said “This is Bay District Schools with an important safety update for parents and guardians of students who attend Cedar Grove Elementary School. All students are safe, but we want to inform you that a student brought a weapon on campus this morning and made some disturbing comments. The student is now in the office, and we’re addressing the situation with his/her parents and law enforcement. Parents/Guardians, please partner with us to talk with your students about what’s appropriate for school and what isn’t appropriate for school and please look in their backpacks and lunch boxes daily to ensure they aren’t bringing things from home that don’t belong at school. Thank you for your continued partnership and support.”
Bay District School officials said they isolated the student immediately after being notified of the incident.
“I do understand that these sorts of situations are terrifying for our students, our staff, our parents and our entire community,” BDS Superintendent Bill Husfelt said. “I want everyone to know that safety is our number one priority, and we will always do everything we can to ensure our schools are the safest places they possibly can be.”
Husfelt added a message for parents and guardians.
“This is an important time for us to remind parents and guardians that this is a partnership and that we’re counting on them to make sure their children don’t have access to weapons or any other inappropriate items,” Husfelt said. “We can’t control what students have access to at home, but it would make us all safer if all parents would ensure they carefully monitor where their students go and what they bring to school.”
BDS has a zero tolerance policy for weapons on campus.