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Incident At School Raises Concern
Topic Started: Mar 13 2009, 01:08 PM (267 Views)
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Incident at school raises concern
Friday, 13 March 2009

By BRIAN HAWKINS
Starkville Daily News

A suspicious incident in which an unidentified man approached some children playing during recess at Ward-Stewart Elementary School had administrators placing the campus on lockdown for more than an hour Thursday afternoon while police officers searched for the man.
Police Chief David Lindley said a black male approached several children playing a game of hide and seek in a grassy area behind the school at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday. The man was described as being between his 20s or 30s, about 5 feet, 11 inches tall, with braided hair and wearing a blue sweatshirt.
The man, Lindley said, was laying down in some bushes near where the children were playing. He approached some of the children and asked them to come to him, touching two of the children, “but no force was used to compel them to go with him,” Lindley said.
The children immediately alerted their teacher of what had happened, and police arrived at the school within minutes. The five children playing together at the time of the incident told the responding police officer, William Durr, that they believe the man drove from the area in a small black car.
School officials immediately placed the Ward-Stewart campus on lockdown while officers conducted a thorough search of the area.
Henderson Intermediate School officials were also notified of the situation since that school is on the same campus as Ward-Stewart, officials said.
Though the lockdown status was lifted at 1:45 p.m. and children returned to their normal schedules, none of the children went outside to the playground for the rest of the day, school officials said.
Ward-Stewart Principal Diane Baker contacted the parents of all the children involved in the incident, Starkville School District officials said.
“The Starkville School District’s first priority is always the safety of our children, and we will take every precaution necessary to protect all of our children and provide them with safe environment for learning and playing,” said Supt. Judy Couey in a statement Thursday.
SSD officials have already contacted a company to clear all the brush behind the school to allow teachers a better line of sight while supervising their children during recess. District officials also plan to build a fence between the parking lot area and school property to deter individuals from attempting to walk onto campus.
“The Starkville School District fully recognizes the seriousness of this incident as does the Starkville Police Department,” said Couey. “We will immediately begin the process of working to construct a fence and clear the brush.”
Baker also met with all the teachers at Ward-Stewart after classes ended for the day on Thursday to discuss safety measures to be taken while students are outside, including setting playground parameters.
Police officers found no signs of the man’s whereabouts during the search, but the incident remains under investigation, Lindley said. The man’s intentions are unknown, but the possibility of what could have occurred is frightening, Lindley said.
“It is alarming to think that one adult could have forced a child against his or her will to come with him,” Lindley said. “We stand ready to help our school officials do what’s necessary to protect the children
http://www.starkvilledailynews.com/content/view/130359/60/
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