On Oct. 22 at 8:29 a.m. an alert was sent out via the CatapultEMS Alert System, notifying all staff and some students there was an active shooter in the OH school building. Thankfully, the alert was a false alarm and there was no present threat to the schools’ safety.
“While a staff member was in the app, they inadvertently pushed the button to indicate a lockdown,” said SD308 Communications Director Theresa Komitas. “This resulted in an email to the staff on the pilot team testing the tool. This did not communicate any emergency to students, parents, or first responders – and did not result in a ‘lockdown’ response in the building.”
However, the alarm did cause an initial panic among students and staff who received the alert. Anyone employed by the district received the notice, including student employees and coaches.
As it was an error, there was no announcement over the intercom system, leading a majority of staff and students to believe the alert was real.
“When I got the text message, I was immediately freaked out, this was a nightmare situation [[…]] I was hesitant to tell any of my friends because I did not want to cause a big panic, so I only texted a few people,” said OH junior Grace Wagner. “The adrenaline of the situation had kicked in so my heart was beating fast, my hands were shaking, and I was thinking about possible ways to avoid this situation.”
Once staff noticed the mistake, the school dealt with the situation, notifying teachers and students over the school’s intercom. Later in the day, at 9:26 a.m., students and parents received an email from Principal Chris Gray’s explaining the situation.
“It was quickly verified that this was accidental, and announcements were made both overhead and in person by visiting each classroom to confirm for everyone that there was no intruder or any reason for concern,” the email explained. “The lockdown alert was NOT announced overhead, as it would have been in an actual situation or drill.”
The system, called Catapult EMS, aims to quickly alert staff and parents of potential threats to student safety. It is intended to be a faster, more connected platform of mass communication for the district.
“The system has many capabilities; it allows people to report concerns and communicate things like room attendance during an emergency to account for all persons in the building,” said Komitas. “It can be used to start private small conversations should there be a classroom barricaded during an emergency. The app has features to record our drills, escalate concerns up a chain of command, notify populations (students, staff, parents), and much more.”
The system is currently still in its pilot phase in SD308, and therefore no message was sent to parents and most students. While this could be an extremely useful tool for parents and students alike to stay informed on the current events in the school, this incident indicates there are fixes to consider before implementing the system.
“[As a student], I do think that this system is helpful. However, I think there should be many corrections to the system so a big mistake like this does not happen again,” said Wagner.
The district plans to continue the rollout of this system, while also making the adjustments from its testing phase, and will hopefully include backup programming and resources to ensure no mistakes are made.
“I think if an alert could be sent out that easily, there should at least be a confirmation screen to avoid misclicks and accidents,” said Wagner.
Hello! I'm Fionnuala Quinn. I'm currently a senior at OHS and this is my third year of journalism. Apart from journalism, I am involved in Cross Country, Track and Field, Best Buddies, and horticulture club. I'm so thrilled to serve as EIC this year!
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