At the March 12 Whitehall-Coplay School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Lorie Hackett reviewed Whitehall-Coplay School District’s safety and security plans in the wake of recent events in the area.

Over the past few months, WCSD has had to send multiple security notices to parents. Hackett shared the decision-making process that goes into when and how those notifications are sent.

“I am aware that there has been criticism surrounding the amount of time that passes between when parents may have heard something from their children and when I send out a notification,” Hackett said. “I will always wait until I have all the facts regarding the incident so that I am sending out a notification that is as accurate as possible based on the information that we have collected. Unfortunately, sometimes that takes time to be accurately completed.”

Last week, Whitehall-Coplay Middle School was placed on lockdown, as a threat that was left in a bathroom was being investigated. The threat was determined to be unsubstantiated, and schools throughout the district were dismissed early that day because of weather.

The safety notification was processed at 1:20 p.m., Hackett acknowledged, but most parents said they did not receive the notification until after 8 p.m. that night. Hackett said technology failure and widespread power outages in the area prevented the notification from being sent.

According to Hackett, the software provider was contacted about the issue to ensure measures are in place to prevent a similar occurrence from happening again.

At the request of Hackett, WCMS Principal Glenn Noack and Whitehall High School resource officer Matthew Christman held grade-level meetings to emphasize the seriousness of jokes that can be construed as threats.

Last week, Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners approved the hiring of a second district resource officer for the 2018-19 school year. The new officer will be stationed at the middle school.

Hackett said a Pennsylvania State Police officer conducted a school safety assessment of WHS last month and found “the building met all of the standards and exceeded safety expectations in some areas.”

The next school board meeting will take place 7 p.m. April 9.