Schools

What Wednesday's 'Stay Put' Order at Stratford High Meant

Stratford BOE Chairman Gavin Forrester explains security measure in response to a report of a suspicious package outside nearby Town Hall.

School officials Wednesday, responding to a report of a suspicious package outside nearby Stratford Town Hall, decided to place Stratford High School in “stay put” mode at about 9:30 a.m.

So what did that mean?

“’Stay put’ is slightly different (than an) actual lockdown,” Gavin Forrester, chairman of the Stratford Board of Education, tells Stratford Patch in an email.

“Lockdown would mean we secure all doors and move students to safety within the classroom and all instruction stops,” Forrester explains. “’Stay put’ means you don’t move from class to class in the hallways but instruction continues.”

Forrester says the security measure employed yesterday did not require the school to lock its doors.

“The Stratford police secured the (perimeter) of Town Hall so it was not possible for any traffic, auto or pedestrian, to move in the area so that became a moot point,” he says.

The school board chairman says an order to “stay put” would rate a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest security level of a complete lockdown.

“There is an interruption in the normal day’s activity but at least we are still providing education to our students,” Forrester says of the “stay put” measure. “We could have exited the building from the Kings Street side of the property if the event had gone on up to dismissal.” 


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