Valdez High students placed in gym during ‘unauthorized’ emergency meeting following principal’s departure - Alaska's News Source

VALDEZ, Alaska (KTUU) - Just days after the new school year began, Valdez High School Principal Gayle Brown announced to staff on Aug. 29 that she would be leaving her position.

Brown left the building that Tuesday without incident, according to Valdez City Schools superintendent Tim Bauer.

“I have heard a lot of rumors — and I can’t thank Facebook enough — but that means she walked to her car and presumably drove home and that was it,” Bauer said. He confirmed there was no police presence and students and faculty were not in danger.

According to Bauer, a staff member held an unauthorized meeting in the library upon hearing about Brown’s departure, while students were put into the gymnasium under the supervision of staff.

But families of Valdez High School students heard a different story on Tuesday.

Clay Strickland’s daughter is a freshman at the high school. On Tuesday night, she came home to tell him about her school day.

“People were stationed at all the entry and exit points and the kids were not allowed to leave,” Strickland said. “And no one told them exactly what the situation was.”

Strickland said his daughter initially told him students were in the gymnasium for an hour with no explanation. She later said it was closer to 20 minutes.

“They all pretty much aligned with, no one knew what exactly was going on,” Strickland said. “There was a feeling of nervousness of everyone. Even though a lot of kids were playing, from the sounds of it. Nobody knew why everyone was in the gym at the same time, unannounced.”

Bauer said that upon hearing of the unauthorized meeting, he directed students and staff return to their regular classrooms.

“That should never happen again, but now we are back to focusing on students,” Bauer said. “And that’s our priority. Students should be in the classroom learning. I don’t take the word ‘emergency’ lightly ... when an emergency meeting is called, there better be an emergency. It’s hard to justify otherwise.”

Families were later informed of the situation via email and social media on Aug. 30. But Strickland said he is puzzled why families were not informed earlier.

“Why not communicate with the kids if it’s not that big of an issue? And why not communicate with the parents,” Strickland said. “If my daughter is five minutes late from school I get a notification by email, so I would assume that if every single kid was pulled from every single class and put into the gym, I might receive an email. However, I did not.”

Bauer said he did not expect rumors to spread amongst students and their families.

“The short amount of time they were in there, I didn’t expect — I don’t think anyone expected the rumor mill,” Bauer said. “We sent out messages as soon as we could to staff, parents, and our Facebook page, as soon as we found it appropriate that there was alarm.”

According to Bauer, the teacher who called the unauthorized meeting is “being addressed” and that the incident shouldn’t happen again. He declined to say more, calling it a personnel matter.

Brown was placed on administrative paid leave. In the meantime, Bauer will be filling in as principal in addition to his superintendent duties. Because Brown’s departure is also considered a personnel matter, Bauer declined further comment.

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Valdez High students placed in gym during ‘unauthorized’ emergency meeting following principal’s departure - Alaska's News Source
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