MEMORANDUM

Date:                May 21, 2013
To:                    Parents
From:               Andrew W. Ishibashi, Principal
Re:                   May 16 Event

First and foremost, the safety and well-being of all our students and staff are of utmost importance to us. We are committed to improving our systems to ensure your children’s safety, physically and emotionally, and we remain vigilant at every moment.  On May 16 we sent a letter through school loop about an incident and have since heard from some parents that they were confused by conflicting messages about what transpired. In an effort to get the facts out as quickly as possible, I did not fully convey the range of possible experiences our students may have had as the school responded quickly to prepare for a lock down with limited information. I apologize for any confusion this has caused.
 
The following is a brief synopsis of the events on May 16 and what we have done since the event to improve our response systems.
May 16 Event:

• We heard from a student that there might be a shooter several blocks away and multiple police cars were at the scene.
• We instructed security guards to clear the halls and lock the perimeter of the building. While we secured the premises, we did not go on lock down (this means that every student in every classroom must stay in their classroom and all doors are locked). The security did everything they could quickly in case of real danger.
• A security guard transported the Dean to investigate the scene.
• We called the police to verify the situation. The call was transferred to voice mail. Several attempts were made before we finally reached an officer who stated that the situation was under control and that we did not need to go to lockdown status.

Outcomes:

• Debriefing meetings were held with the administrative team, the central office, the security staff, and the police.
• The Lieutenant from SFPD came to Lowell on Friday and apologized for the amount of time it took to let us know the details of the situation and that it was all clear.
• A recommendation will be made to the Lowell Emergency Response Team (LERT) to implement a RED ALERT status when the situation warrants investigation.
• Parents and students may follow @lhsemergency for updates related to Lowell emergencies. Also, for any district-wide notifications, emergency and others, parents and students may follow SFUSD @SFUnified Thanks to Mark Wenning and his students for setting up the Lowell High School Emergency twitter account.

I know we are all grateful that the situation turned out to not be a real threat to our students. A number of positive things came out of this experience: the development of a RED ALERT status, the twitter account for emergencies, and the chance to experience how we react in emergency situations. I thank you for your understanding . 

On April 3,  Ms. Peterson attended a meeting at City Hall to take action to improve pedestrian safety on Sloat Blvd.  We would like to encourage the Lowell Family to attend the upcoming community meeting. The results of the meeting at City Hall and plans for safety improvements will be discussed at the following community meeting: