Lockdown practice and evacuation procedures did not reassure some Big Lake students who skipped school last Friday after comments on Facebook and 12-21-12 rumors about the end of the world made them nervous. The apocalypse did not happen and no students brought guns to school Friday, in spite of the Facebook threat. Posting such threats is a crime and can have serious consequences, says Big Lake Chief of Police Joel Scharf. “I can’t begin to overstate the seriousness of it,” Chief Scharf said. “It literally impacts thousands of people in the district. it is unnerving and causes stress to the children of the community.” While some parents erred on the side of safety and kept their children home for the day, it is likely some chose to extend their Christmas break. “We never received any direct threats,” said Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott. “But we decided to be very proactive. We partnered with our local police departments and added additional resources in tall the county schools because we wanted to increase levels of confidence and keep people feeling safe.” “The school district was working on this prior to the Christmas break and every precaution was taken,” Chief Scharf said. Although the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office provides police services in the school district, Chief Scharf is the Big Lake Emergency Manager and is very familiar with school safety and evacuation plans. “We would likely be among the first responders,” he said. “They have a very sound, solid plan which has been well-thought out. It is a very efficient, modern response plan and we have very good people at the school working to keep the students safe.” Health and Safety Director Brad Schnitzler sent a letter home with students last week after the Sandy Hook Elementary School incident which rocked the country. Since the Columbine incident in Colorado, the Big Lake School District has had practice lock down drills five times per year, practicing their response to a number of different scenarios with the sheriff’s department and Big Lake police. An unannounced lockdown drill was scheduled for last Tuesday but has been postponed until January, Schnitzler said. They also practice with Vision Bus Co. “We have two fulltime building and campus supervisors whose primary assignment is the high school and the middle school,” Schnitzler said. “But they are available to assist at the elementary schools.” All high school entrances are locked during the day and all middle school and elementary school entrances are locked during the day except for the main doors, which are monitored by office staff. New methods of surveillance, using improved technology, are also being implemented, Schnitzler said. Any additional security measures would be instituted by the school district, Sheriff Brott said. “We have been acting based on best practices for student safety dating back to Columbine,” said Supt. Jonathan Miller, who has two children in school here. “No doubt there will be more recommendations to come after Sandy Hook. There are hard lessons to be learned. They did everything right but what we know now is that it’s not good enough. It is a personal thing for all of us. There are no simple answers. It seems to depend on levels of respect and civility and how we treat each other across the country.” “No matter what, we will always choose to err on the side of kids’ safety and we ask the community to work with us to help us improve how we talk to and treat other people,” he said. “There are a huge number of schools in the country and this is still an isolated incident,” said Chief Scharf. “School is still one of the safest places a child can be.”