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William S. Hart School Lockdowns Demonstrate District’s Preparedness

Two schools in the William S. Hart Union School District went on soft lockdowns during a pursuit on Thursday, demonstrating the district’s readiness in the event of an emergency, district officials said.


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Bowman High School and Sequoia School were both placed on soft lockdowns Thursday, after deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station set up a containment area to search for a stolen vehicle suspect near the schools.

“We at the district office saw the activity, I looked on twitter and saw that there was a chase and a crash right there,” said Dave Caldwell, spokesman for the William S. Hart Union School District. “Folks were called at Bowman, folks were called at Sequoia, and it was advised to go on a soft lockdown.”

It is important to note the difference between a soft lockdown and a hard lockdown, Caldwell said.

“It was a soft lockdown,” he said. “That means that students are free to move about on the campus, but they are not allowed to leave the campus, nor is anyone allowed to enter the campus.”

After officials at the two schools were notified, the district immediately sent out a text alert to the families of the students in order to keep them informed, according to Caldwell. An email with more information was sent out less than an hour later.

Related Story: Stolen Vehicle Suspect Crashes Into Cars, Arrested Near Soledad Canyon

“We’ve really been working hard to improve our communication ability,” Caldwell said. “Our number one objective is the safety of our students and our staff.”

District officials were also in constant contact with law enforcement during the situation, Caldwell said.

“Immediately, we were in touch with the Sheriff’s Department,” Caldwell said. “There is a Sheriff’s Resource Officer assigned to each of those schools. They went and made sure that (the schools) were safe.”

In addition to Sheriff’s officials heading to the schools, officials from the district also went to help.

“Once the decision was made to put the schools on a soft lockdown, our Assistant Superintendent, Mike Kuhlman, went right to down to the school to offer assistance,” Caldwell said.

This relationship between the district and law enforcement is typical, according to Caldwell.

“We have such a good relationship with the Sheriff’s Department that they call us, we call them, and we coordinate,” Caldwell said. “We know each other on a first name basis, we all have each others’ cell phone numbers. That is extremely important not only to us, but to the Sheriff’s Department as well.”

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William S. Hart School Lockdowns Demonstrate District’s Preparedness

3 comments

  1. This was handled so well….

  2. OK, what about the pursuit and the end result of it. Was anybody hurt? It looks like a pretty good crash from the picture. These news stories never give all the information. What Where How When Why????? They Teach this in Basic Journalism!!

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About Michael Brown

Michael Brown has lived in Santa Clarita his whole life. Graduating from Saugus High School in 2016, he continued to stay local by attending The Master’s University, where he achieved a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. Michael joined KHTS in January of 2018 as a news intern, and has since gone on to become the News Director for the KHTS Newsroom. Since joining KHTS, Michael has covered many breaking news stories (both on scene and on air), interviewed dozens of prominent state and federal political figures, and interacted with hundreds of residents from Santa Clarita. When he is not working, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, as well as reading any comic book he can get his hands on.