Foley, Ala. – (OBA) – In a detailed letter addressed to parents, Baldwin County Superintendent Eddie Tyler reassured the community following a school lockdown at Foley High School, emphasizing the importance of safety protocols and transparency. Tyler explained that while the event turned out to be a false alarm, the swift and decisive response from school staff and law enforcement demonstrated their preparedness in ensuring the safety of all students.

Tyler also addressed the spread of misinformation on social media, urging parents to rely on official communications and reminding them of the proper channels to report any perceived threats. He praised the professionalism of the law enforcement agencies involved and highlighted the maturity shown by students throughout the situation. Additionally, Tyler urged parents to have open conversations with their children about the seriousness of making comments regarding weapons or threats at school, emphasizing the consequences of such actions.

Ultimately, the letter served as a call for trust in the school system's safety procedures and a reminder of the community's collective responsibility in protecting its children.

Read Previous Article: Police Respond to Incident at Foley High School No Injuries Reported

Parents,

I strive very hard to be transparent with all of you. I tell you all the time how much I appreciate you trusting us with your children so I want you to know that even though today was a false alarm, I would rather be safe than sorry. I will always err on the side of caution when it comes to the safety of your children. We train all of our staff to respond, not analyze and this is exactly what was done today. 

There is a lot of false information going around on social media. I know that will not surprise most of you, but there are unfortunately many who forward and share anything they see, which only serves to further misleading information.

There was a picture of a child with a gun being circulated. In fact, I understand there was more than one picture of different people. There were rumors about fights in hallways and guns being pulled. None of this happened. The picture with the most attention was not taken today and in fact, was not taken on a school campus. Again, law enforcement has verified the same information.

On that note parents, I want to remind you that if you or your child comes upon information which you believe is a threat to a school, please do not send it to anyone at the school. Please call 911 and report the information. Sending a school administrator an email with a screenshot of a social media post or a text message your child may have seen is not a good practice. Our administrators do not monitor their messages 24 hours a day and we are not investigators or law enforcement. If you feel the need to report a threat to a school contact 911. Thank you for making the effort to ensure law enforcement has this information and our children are protected.

After what I witnessed today, I want you to know something important. If you are the parent of a child in the Baldwin County Public School System, you should feel very good about the safety of your children. I'm going to quote from the email Foley High School Principal Jessica Webb sent out today. 

“Our police department was on site within a matter of minutes. We have two School Resource Officers who immediately began implementing our lockdown procedure to secure students and staff in place. Within minutes we had a perimeter around the school with assault teams taking positions. I saw uniforms from the sheriff's office and cities across Baldwin County.  Our staff and students felt safe and supported throughout the process today.”

When I pulled up there were well over 100 police officers on campus. Under any estimation, it was an impressive show of force. Unfortunately, these resources were deployed because of comments made by students in a hallway. Again, I believe our team responded appropriately and we will continue to respond this way but parents, I need you to have a serious conversation with your children.

Please take just one minute and remind your children there is no excuse for a discussion about a weapon on campus or a threat to a school. Even in humor, the consequences of this type of discussion can be devastating. We have amazing surveillance assets on campus in both our new camera systems as well as our computer and technology equipment. From the information we gather, disciplinary action will be taken in this circumstance and in any other circumstance where it is warranted.

What we don't want to do is desensitize a very dangerous situation. We are blessed in Baldwin County that we don't have many false alarms and we are very blessed we haven't had any real threats. I would like to keep it that way.

On that note, I want to talk about the response by parents. I cannot imagine what it's like to be a parent and learn by text message or social media post that my child's school is on lockdown and there are concerns of an active threat. I'm a parent and I am not going to judge any of you for how you might respond. I am however going to ask you to think through the consequences of your response. 

We had a similar situation in Daphne a year or so back. In both situations, parents came to the school campus seeking to simply walk up to the front door and check out their child. Folks, that is not going to happen. Our priority is to secure the perimeter, ensure the safety of the children and not allow anybody within that area until the all-clear has been given. 

From there, we have a very specific procedure at each school on how the reunification process will happen. Sometimes it won't even be on campus. So coming to the school may further delay your ability to collect your child. It can also delay the response by emergency services and law enforcement. It can also create a distraction that will remove resources from the most important effort.

Today there were not many, but there was a group of parents who were angry. They were frustrated. They were very emotional and they wanted their child. While I understand this feeling, I need you to understand that attempting to enter a school campus that is on lockdown with more than 100 officers fully armed in assault gear is not a good idea for anyone on any side of the conversation.

Today we pushed out the first message to parents within 20 minutes of the school being placed on lockdown. This message notified parents that the school was secure and all students were safe. We notified them that an additional message would be pushed out within 90 minutes. 

During this time, there are several procedures taking place. The buildings and hallways have to be cleared. Students, staff and their belongings have to be inspected. Even after each person is accounted for, each one of those people has to then be cleared by law enforcement. 

The fact that all of this took place in 90 minutes with almost 2,000 students and adults is a testament to the amount of training our law enforcement partners undertake throughout the year.

Once law enforcement has cleared the occupants of the building, we will begin an early dismissal if warranted. Parents will be provided that information by email, text message, or social media from the school system. This is a good reminder for you to make sure your contact information is up to date with your school office or in PowerSchool. If you are receiving this email then that means your contact information is good. 

I'm not going to share any more details about our security procedures and how our systems work. I do want you to know what is taking place if a lockdown is triggered at one of our schools and how the reunification process will work. Most importantly, I want you to know the safety of your child is the number one concern of everybody involved in this process.

Dismissal could not have gone better today. The students were 100% cooperative. Principal Webb has bragged numerous times about the maturity and the seriousness with which her students undertook today's event. I know for all of us that is good news because we may wonder what will happen when students are placed in such a trying situation, but the report back was overall positive.

Folks, we have to trust each other. I know in this day and age that's asking a lot. Somebody once told me that no matter how much I might think of myself, to many I'm just another government employee. Regardless of what you may think of the job I or anyone else in this school system does, I'm asking you to trust law enforcement and the process for which they train months in and months out. The safety of you and your child depends upon everyone following directions and being patient. 

I don't like days like today, but they can also serve as a reminder of how much we love our children and how blessed we are to be in Baldwin County. I'm going to close by sharing what Principal Webb shared in her email. I agree wholeheartedly with what she says.

"I hope you will join me in recognizing these truths. I am grateful for the law enforcement partners who are willing to run into the building to save each and every one of us. I am grateful for the school system that has invested millions of dollars in security assets and School Resource Officers to ensure we are prepared and ready. I am grateful for my students who recognized a very serious situation and cooperated at every step. I'm grateful for the parents who followed instructions and helped us execute a very quick and easy reunification with all our children. I am very very grateful today was a false alarm, but I also know we would have been well cared for if it wasn't."

Thank you for trusting us with your children.

Eddie Tyler,

Superintendent

#BaldwinProud #CommunityStrong