A rash of daytime violence around a local elementary school has prompted a lockdown through the end of the school year and has some worried the school may permanently close.
Officials at Lincoln Heights Elementary School sent a letter home to parents this week explaining the decision. The lockdown began Wednesday after a school board decision Monday night. The school year ends June 2.
It came about a week after two people were shot nearby on a nearby street corner. That mid-morning gunfire occurred just a few months after a random bullet soared into the back window of an empty school bus at a middle school stop, lodging in the front of the bus next to the driver’s head, said Princeton City Schools Superintendent Gary Pack.
In August, right after the school year began, a young child was shot inside a vehicle, he said.
“We feel that it is necessary due to the continued random shootings in the neighborhood and the fact that bullets don’t have eyes,” Pack said. “Those are continuing to happen in the village, and they are happening during the day when school is in session.”
The lockdown eliminates recess and extracurricular activities for the school’s 200 students in preschool through fifth grade. Visitors must be buzzed in at the main entrance.
“We must ensure the safety and security of all students, visitors and staff,” the school’s principal wrote in the letter to parents. “Please be aware that the violent acts within the community are random, and still occurring with some frequency.”
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SOURCE: Jennifer Edwards Baker and Ally Marotti
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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