This week was a break from the ordinary for LN students, who arrived to school on Monday to discover that heightened security measures were in place after a threat was discovered on a bathroom mirror the previous Friday.

In the middle of the morning on Friday, Oct. 31, Principal Brett Crousore was called by Assistant Principal Mike Penrose to the bathroom across from room 120. Two students had found a threatening message there.

Crousore was unable to discuss the exact specifics of the message, but said it was written in highlighter pen across a mirror.

“It did have something to do with shooting everybody on Monday. And it had some profanity,” Crousore said.

Right away, the administrative team began to lay out a plan of action for the next few days for dealing with the incident and addressing the threat.

“Our immediate reaction was to contact custodial to get it removed. Then we began investigating and developing a plan,” Crousore said.

On Friday afternoon, Crousore and district leaders from the central office met to discuss the particulars of the plan for moving forward. Among those in attendance at the meeting were Jim Parish, Lawrence Police Department officer and Director of Safety and Security for the district, and Superintendent Dr. Shawn Smith.

Based on prior research about school violence, as well as surveillance footage and discussions with district officials, Crousore did not see the threat as a credible one. He decided to wait until the end of the weekend to alert families that any incident had taken place.

“I made a choice on Friday to begin to work through this and investigate it,” Crousore said. “You can lead a panic for a weekend by sending out information that may not be credible. But I do not see this as a credible threat. And the goal is to not create a panic. I understand that people will disagree with my decision, and that’s a part of leadership. My job is to develop a plan to keep all kids safe and secure at Lawrence North High School and also provide a quality education in that process.”

Melissa Rogers is a parent of two LN students, freshman Olivia Rogers and senior Harrison Rogers. She says she was not fully aware of the situation until Monday, when administration send out a phone call to all LN families.

“I got a voicemail Monday morning and then everything blew up on my kids’ social media and texting,” Melissa Rogers said.

Rogers was initially a bit worried for her children’s safety.

“I was concerned,” Melissa Rogers said. “My kids didn’t want to come to school Monday so I didn’t make them come. They’re good kids. If they wanted to stay home because they were afraid, I was okay with that.”

Harrison Rogers thinks that part of his mom’s concern had to do with the prevalence lately of news about violence in schools.

“My mom didn’t really want to risk anything especially because it has been such a big thing in the news lately,” Harrison Rogers said. “She didn’t really want to risk anything. She thought it was better to be safe than sorry.”

Students and visitors who did arrive at school on Monday morning were subject to individual bag checks by security officers and members of the administrative team. This plan was decided upon based on advice from township and local security officials.

“We have a safety and security plan developed by a safety and security team,” Crousore said. “And when you deploy it, you deploy it. Our deployment was to check every student who entered the building.”

Because so many students arrive to school every morning in a relatively short timespan, the security screenings on Monday lasted well into first block.

The school was also placed on a lockdown, meaning that no students were allowed to leave classrooms on Monday or Tuesday without an adult escort. These restrictions were changed Wednesday to allow use of restroom passes and trips to the library or testing center.

Crousore said that the investigation into Friday’s incident based on security footage and other factors has helped narrow the search down to a small number of students who may have been involved.

“As far as I know the investigation’s been pretty quick,” Melissa Rogers said. “I heard they had several people that they have turned over to the police, so as far as I’ve heard, they’ve handled it well.”

Harrison Rogers says he is unsure that bag checks are as thorough as they could be, but that he doesn’t think the incident will have a lasting effect on his attitude at school.

“In the scheme of things, I don’t feel any more threatened at school than I used to,” Harrison Rogers said.

Melissa Rogers comes to the Commons many mornings around 7:30 to volunteer selling breakfast foods to students as a fundraiser for the band program, in which Harrison is involved. Parents have also had their belongings checked by security upon entrance to the building. Melissa Rogers thinks that the bag checks have had an impact on breakfast sales.

“Sales are down a fair amount just because there aren’t as many kids roaming around,” Melissa Rogers said.

Crousore acknowledged that morning classes and activities may have been affected by the heightened security measures, but maintains that the quality of education has not changed.

“It may have impacted the academics,” Crousore said. “But it doesn’t interfere with the education our kids are receiving. And that is one thing I will always speak to, that our students at this high school are well-educated every day. We are transparent with our students. We are transparent with our stakeholders. And I want to continue to assure people that this will continue to be a great high school where students are safe and secure and receive a great education.”

As of now, administration plans to keep the morning bag checks in place indefinitely, and a bell was temporarily added to the bell schedule on Tuesday morning to ensure that students are in class by 9 a.m.

When it comes to any safety concerns, Crousore is confident that LN remains secure.

“Lawrence North High School is a great academic institution. I can say that wholeheartedly,” Crousore said. “And I hope people do not allow one person to disrupt one’s thought about this school. Events like this can happen anywhere. Gunfire knows no boundary. And so you and I are most likely safer here than we are walking down the street today.”