This has happpened, to a lesser degree, at my school several times in the past few years. Each time, the teachers are treated as if they are being nosy and are told in not so many words to mind their own business. I understand that the "investigation can't be compromised" but situations like this occur enough in baltimore city that at the least there should be some sort of protocol so that teachers and students aren't standing outside clueless for an indefinite time period.

That is a pile of crap from the principal!
She could have either emailed everyone and given them a BRIEF accounting of what happened, or, sent a memo through their mailbox.
Principals do not treat their staff with respect. It is another example of a principals condescending attitude towards teachers and staff. (You are not as important as me: you don't need to know).
When will they ever learn that the truth is always less dangerous than rumors?

To be very honest, I am not shocked by the (lack of) events that took place the day after explosives were found at Patterson High School. As a teacher in the system (not at Patterson), I have found that we often have no idea what is going in our own schools. Are teachers not to be trusted with information that affects them? Are the safety issues of teachers not equally as important as it is for students? I am quite certain that if explosives of any kind were found at city hall, or at a business, that the employees of said business would get a full debriefing the next day.

It really frustrates me that the employees of a school did not get a full rundown of what happened in their place of business-it is their right to know the truth when it is something that greatly concerns them! “Business as usual” at Patterson yesterday? Come on, explosives were found inside the school-that caused one employee to go to the hospital-that merits more than just the old company line.

Once again I am reminded of my worth here in Baltimore City. Another question I had after reading this, why the two different accounts-if the evacuation started at 12ish, why would the school system report 11....?

I can understand not revealing the details of an ongoing investigation, however teachers should be prepped on what to do in the event of an evacuation regardless of the cause.

It is inexcusable to send mixed messages about reentering the building.

Finally, it's understandable that in such a chaotic atmosphere mistakes are made, but at the very least those mistakes need to be addressed with the staff so that they're not repeated.

D'Anna's response focuses on a peripheral issue because that's the only place where she's justified. Her primary responsibility of ensuring safety through preparation of the staff and sending a clear unified message to the school was unfulfilled.

Having worked at numerous schools where similar evacuations have taken place, I can tell you that what the teachers and students experienced is S.O.P for BCPSS and has been for years. There is no standard emergency plan that has been given the schools and few schools have established an effective one on their own. We carry on, in the dark, trying to keep order and protect the students as best we can. In this day and age it's criminal that there aren't policies in place that can be implemented the minute a dangerous situation arises.

Just thought I'd share something that Fairfax County in Virginia has. It's quite impressive.

http://www.fcps.edu/emergencyplan/

http://www.fcps.edu/fts/safety-security/publications/cmw.pdf

The building was evacuated at 12:05, as the teacher said. I don't know where the 11:00 information came from in the article, but it seems wrong.

Different teachers, depending on where they were standing during the time outside, may have had more or less information than others. What follows was my experience. Similar to the teacher who e-mailed, I did not receive an explanation in the time outside, but I did receive instructions from administrators. When students were told they could go home, they were clearly told they could not go back in the building at that time: they were given the choice of waiting to get back in to get their belongings, or traveling home without them. Most went straight home and collected their belongings the next day, before or after PSATs were administered.

Wednesday 10/15 there was a memo in our mailboxes (in the daily bulletin), as Principal D'Anna mentioned, contrary to Susan's point above. Later in the day, all students and staff received a letter about the incident as well. This morning, all school systems employees received an e-mail from Dr. Alonso about the incident. Finally, discussion of the incident is on the agenda for academy meetings during Professional Development today.

While it would have been good to know what was going on while we were standing outside and seeing the helicopters and Hazmat trucks, I don't think the handling of the incident is as poor as some suggest.

The school system acknowledges that it gave media the wrong time of the incident. The first explosion occurred around noon, as the teachers said.