Our Views: School Officials Deserve Patience During Crisis

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Across the country, we’re seeing vast and complex changes in the way threats are responded to within schools. 

The necessary transformation is occurring right here in Lewis County as well. 

Last Friday, we saw law enforcement officials from several agencies descend upon Centralia High School after a threatening note was left on a desk. Students were first isolated, later searched and finally bused across the street to waiting parents and guardians. 

Then, on Monday, a similar process played out in the Winlock School District after a bomb threat. 

In both cases, we saw a response unparalleled in local history. 

In recent years, separate anonymous threats on the Chehalis and Centralia school districts prompted notes to parents and the option for students to skip school for the day. 

The response has shifted to full-on evacuations and canceled classes and extracurricular events. 

Some have expressed frustration with what has been deemed a collective overreaction. 

Others note that the increased responses are likely due to the regional tragedy suffered last week in Roseburg, Oregon, where dozens of students, teachers and staff were shot, and nine ultimately died. 

Frustration boiled over to anger at points Friday when confused parents shouted out for answers outside Centralia High School with their children still waiting to be released inside. 

One statement by a law enforcement official was especially poignant. 

“We’re parents as well,” said Chief Deputy Stacy Brown, of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. “We’re trying to do the best we can for your students.”



There’s much more truth in that quote than the simple fact that many law enforcement officers are also parents. 

It belies a reality in Lewis County, and rural areas similar to it. Threats against students aren’t simply matters in need of handling. They involve neighbors, friends and families of those who arrive at the scene with weapons that they hope they never have to use. 

Officials do the best they can under the circumstances. 

Likewise, most school officials trained in educational subject matter and administration likely never imagined they’d use their experiences to guard against something as dangerous as a mass shooting or bombing.

We hope they never have to deal with the real thing. 

In the past week, though, school and law enforcement officials have shown that they are up to the challenge. 

They’ve shown that a day of class is not worth risking the health of students, regardless of how small the risk. 

As local officials continue to navigate an ever-changing landscape, we hope parents and residents can extend to them the patience and respect they deserve. 

Many of them are parents as well, after all. 

All of them are invested in the safety and security of students.