The following message was emailed to all OFCS parents district-wide by Superintendent Dr. Jim Lloyd at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, February 23rd:
Dear OFCS Parents and Guardians,
As our school week comes to a close, I wanted to personally reach out to all parents again on the topic of school safety. I am emailing you not only as the Superintendent of Olmsted Falls Schools, but as a father. My kids go to our schools, so I make decisions with my own children in mind as well as yours. People are understandably anxious and nervous right now. Together we will get through this. The safety of our students and staff is of the most critical importance to us and we take this responsibility very seriously.
We appreciate the cooperation of both the Olmsted Township and City of Olmsted Falls Police Departments - both of which provided extra coverage across all five of our school buildings today to help make our students and families feel more secure. We appreciate our students being open, honest and vigilant with what they hear and see. We investigate each and every rumor of a threat that is brought to our attention and dedicate significant resources to do so. The investigations into each reported concern brought forth this week, specifically at our high school, did not uncover evidence of any credible threat.
When a concern is reported about a particular incident or piece of information, the student(s) involved are immediately brought to the office and their parents/guardians are notified about the situation. When the incident or information involves a violation of law, our School Resource Officer is also brought into the loop early on to coordinate the response and any formal investigation that may be required by law enforcement. Our school administrators stay involved, following the investigation to its conclusion including the coordination of any school disciplinary action that needs to be taken.
Please know that we do our best to keep you informed but we cannot provide an email update every time we are following up on an issue. We cannot provide personal information on students and are unable to let you know the disciplinary actions taken. We have reached out more frequently than normal this week given the heightened level of overall anxiety and higher than normal chatter and rumors present. Thank you for entrusting us with your children each school day and please know that their safety is our first priority and we consider it our core responsibility every day. If you have specific questions or concerns, we encourage you to reach out to your child’s building principal. We appreciate the strong working partnership our schools have with our families and thank you for your continuing support.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jim Lloyd, Superintendent
Phone: 440-427-6000
Twitter: @OFCSSuper