Policy misunderstanding leads to use of emergency protocols at Topsail High School
HAMPSTEAD, NC (WWAY) — A Pender County School Board member made an unannounced entrance into Topsail High School on Friday, February 23rd, causing the school to activate its emergency protocol.
Board member Phil Cordeiro went inside Topsail High School to look at the school’s gym for an upcoming event but didn’t use the main entrance or check in.
When staff noticed, the school’s emergency protocol went into effect until they determined there was no threat.
Cordeiro said it was a misunderstanding.
“Part of this is I didn’t check in with the office,” Cordeiro said. “The Superintendent explained to me, there is a policy that the Board of Education has that pertains to visitors when they’re at the school and I didn’t understand in advance that that policy pertained to board members specifically.”
Cordeiro and Pender County Schools Superintendent Brad Breedlove exchanged emails about the visitor policy, with Cordeiro saying the board finds ‘great value in making unannounced visits to the schools to observe them as they are.’
Breedlove responded that while ‘you may be in favor of unannounced visits, it’s crucial to balance your desire for authentic observations with the need to uphold safety measures and minimize disruptions within our schools.’
According to another email sent to Cordeiro from Topsail High School assistant principal Zachary Clark, visitors must:
- enter through the main entrance by using the camera and buzzer system
- report to the front office and may not proceed to any other locations without permission.
- sign in using the log book with their name, classroom(s) visiting and the purpose of the visit
- wear a visitor sticker while on campus.
Cordeiro was wearing his School Board member badge while he was at the school.
Topsail High student Leila Mattlin said things were mostly normal while staff spoke with Cordeiro.
“Not much other than we weren’t allowed to leave our classrooms for like 20 minutes probably and we weren’t allowed to go anywhere,” Mattlin said. “I mean, it’s a little unusual. Cause normally the school is pretty safe. We’re not allowed to let in people that we don’t know so normally it’s pretty safe.”
Going forward, Cordeiro said he will make sure to follow visitor policies for all schools.
“I think we figured it out that the superintendent’s point of view is that the policy does apply to board members and so in the future, I’ll make sure to check in and so that was kind of the end of the interaction.”
The Pender County Board of Education sent a statement about the incident saying in part quote: “School administration swiftly responded, assessed the situation, and determined that there was no threat to the school. We are reviewing our protocols and policy to prevent such incidents in the future. The safety of our students, staff, and visitors remains our utmost concern.”
