Stafford County Public Schools told families Wednesday afternoon that a routine shelter-in-place drill at one school set off an alert across every school in the division. The division said the alert was tied to the drill and that there was no emergency and no danger to students or staff.
The note, sent at 3:15 p.m., did not name the school where the drill started and did not say whether the alert had been cleared. Shelter-in-place drills are for severe weather, including tornadoes. The division said Safety and Security and Technology teams were still checking why the false alarm spread and working to fix it.
Subscribe to our FREE email newsletter to get local news you can trust.
Full press release:
Dear Stafford County Families and Staff,
This afternoon, a routine shelter-in-place drill at one of our schools inadvertently activated an alert across all Stafford County schools. The alert was related to a drill, and there was no actual emergency or danger to our students or staff.
Shelter-in-place drills help students and staff prepare for severe weather, such as tornadoes, and provide an opportunity to verify that our emergency systems work as intended. We are proud of our students and staff for following our procedures and remaining calm as our Safety and Security and Technology teams verified there was no threat. Both teams are continuing to investigate the cause of the false alarm and resolve the issue.
We understand that an unexpected alert can be unsettling. We appreciate the calm response of our students and staff and the care our school teams showed throughout the situation. The safety of our students and staff remains our top priority.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to resolve this issue.
