Three weeks in October: managing widespread fear in a school community during the final days of the Beltway Sniper crisis

School Administrator, June, 2004 by Stewart D. Roberson

7:30-9 a.m.: Appear live on Channel 12, reciting in part a sermon I heard at church the week before: "There is evil in this world. There is risk associated with living in this world. We cannot control the unpredictable. We derive strength, comfort and joy from our faith, family and friends." This is the message 1 convey in many public remarks to follow In addition. I emphasize how we must tend to the developmental differences in the children we lead as they process terrifying events.

9 a.m.: Call Mark Edwards, superintendent in Henrico County, and Billy Cannaday, superintendent in Chesterfield County, the jurisdictions adjacent to Hanover County. Discuss the anticipated need for metro superintendents (including superintendents from Richmond City and other districts adjacent to 1-95 serving nearly 200,000 children) to process the events and their implications today. Mark agrees to set up a meeting at 3 p.m. in his office.

10 a.m.: Cancel scheduled travel to the Urban Superintendents Association of America conference in San Antonio, Texas, in the coming week.

10:30 a.m.: Download school lockdown procedures for Northern Virginia and Maryland schools from the Virginia Department of Education website.

Noon: Channel 12 reporter calls to suggest that it would be valuable for the viewers to obtain any updates of school decision making.

1 p.m.: Senior staff meeting at the school board office. The executive assistant, assistant superintendents and communications specialist gather to discuss the implications of last night's shooting upon our preparations for school tomorrow. We all agree schools should remain open. We all agree schools should be under tight lockdown provisions. Using our own crisis plan, feedback from our sheriff's office and the examples of lockdown provisions initiated by other school districts in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, we craft a set of procedures to communicate to school principals and the community.

3 p.m.: Regional superintendents' meeting in the Henrico County central office. Each superintendent, along with an officer who joined us from the Henrico County Police Department, agree to a general set of lockdown provisions that would be evident in each school serving the metro Richmond area. Because of the dramatic and unprecedented changes anticipated in the school conditions, we arrange for a brief press conference to announce the changes in procedure that afternoon.

4 p.m.: Press conference involving regional superintendents and Henrico County police officer. As a means of offering comfort to the community, we acknowledge that "schools are the safest places children can be" and that our lockdown provisions planned for use tomorrow underscore our commitment to that belief. The press conference is broadcast live by national TV network affiliates.

6 p.m.: Regional superintendents man a bank of phones during a live call-in segment at Channel 12. Parents and community members seek an understanding of the lockdown plan, creating new issues and anxieties to consider as we go forward.