WATERFORD -- A middle school in Waterford will see increased police presence for the next few days after officials say a teacher found a round of ammunition in a classroom on Tuesday.
“Around ten o’clock yesterday morning, a teacher reported that a live round of ammunition was found in a classroom,” says Thomas Giard, Superintendent of Waterford Public Schools.
That teacher, acted on Clark Lane Middle School’s “Say Something” program, which was created after the Sandy Hook shooting. This prompted school officials to put the school on lockdown, and being an investigation.
That program has been around, I believe, since the start of the year,” says Brett Mahoney, Chief of the Waterford Police Department. “Our police department and our school system work hand in hand.”
Their goal now is to reassure the students and their families as tensions were high Wednesday morning.
“Everyone is just nervous, you know you want to make sure your kids are safe,” says Anthony Santangelom, whose daughter is a student at Clark Lane Middle School.
School officials say their number one concern is to make sure the student’s always feel safe and comfortable at school.
“Obviously to keep kids not only physically safe but emotionally safe each and every day,” says Giard. “We have a great team here in Waterford to help us accomplish that goal.”
Officials say that goal was accomplished because of appropriate preparations and communication.
“Kids are safe first and foremost,” says Giard. “We have established procedures in place, and we are following those to a T.”
Parents we spoke to say they are thankful for those procedures.
“I thought they did a pretty good job of keeping us informed, and in the loop of what was going on,” says Santangelom.
Police say they will continue to have an increased presence at the school for the next few days to ease tensions and reassure the community.
“It is one thing to be police in a police uniform but it is quite another to be a good human being, and to give these little kids high fives, and let them know that they’re safe,” says Mahoney. “To kind of break down some barriers with them, and let them know that we love them we appreciate them, and we are here to protect them,” says Mahoney.
Police have not yet released any other information on the bullet that was found, and say the investigation is ongoing.