Late notice of lockdown irks Foresthill parents

Journal Staff WriterFORESTHILL ? After an incident requiring a student lockdown at Foresthill Divide Middle School went unreported to parents for more than a week, the school has taken a second look at notification policies.On Tuesday, Feb. 3, a California Highway Patrol officer saw a man walk onto the school?s campus. Staff members were alerted and initiated school lockdown procedures while the officer approached the suspect, James S. Shetrawski, who allegedly had a four-inch knife and two hypodermic needles on him at the time of his arrest. According to a CHP report, he told his arresting officer that he was ?just watching the little girls doing aerobics.? Shetrawski remains in custody at Placer County Jail in Auburn with $10,000 bail, held on suspicion of carrying a weapon onto school grounds, possession of hypodermic needles and making threats to a peace officer. While he has no prior felony strikes, he has six potential felonies on his record, according to the Placer County District Attorney?s office.During the incident, students were locked inside classrooms with staff members and most had no idea what was happening, said Principal Shannon Jacinto.After reading of the incident in the Auburn Journal, parent Jeri Clark said she was shocked. Her daughter was not at school when the lockdown occurred, but Clark was still concerned.?They did what they were supposed to do, as far as keeping the children safe,? Clark said. ?They did a good job. They should have communicated with us, because by them not communicating, it seems like they?re hiding something.?That day, a letter was sent to parents, signed by Jacinto and Superintendent Jim Roberts. It explained that administrators forgot to communicate with parents ?in a timely fashion? and assured parents that steps had already been taken to ensure such a lapse in communication did not reoccur.?It was out of character,? Jacinto said. ?Having been in this job 12 months, this was definitely a wakeup call for me. I typically think of things in terms of being a parent, how I would want to be dealt with.?Because of the incident, the school changed its parental notification policy. Now, a letter will be sent to parents within 24 hours of a lockdown on campus, something Jacinto said was an ?unwritten rule? before.?That?s the resolution therein,? she said.Although Foresthill Divide parent Diane Tobin was concerned over the delay in notice of the lockdown, she applauds school staff for how they handled the situation. ?The school did a great job of handling it,? she said Wednesday. ?I?m confident we?ll be notified in the future. It was huge that they admitted that they made a mistake. They could so easily have pointed a finger. I feel secure in having my children here.?Shetrawski is scheduled to appear in court March 9.