CEDAR CITY — In February, a teen was arrested for allegedly physically assaulting a student and brandishing a gun at Canyon View High School. Since then, parents have questioned how this incident was handled and if their children are safe at school.

Parents and community members gathered at the Heritage Center Theater last Tuesday to discuss their concerns. The event was organized by Cedar City Politics and Dan Kidder.

Kidder said he arranged the event because Iron County School District Board President Ben Johnson had not yet called a meeting to hear parents’ concerns and due to conflicting information the public had received since the incident.

Vicki Christian, a school secretary at Canyon View High, said the students and staff “did the best possible thing” they could.

“It’s so easy to sit back and criticize,” she said. “I would just like to tell you that I felt safe. I don’t know when they should have called the lockdown. You call a lockdown early — the parents get upset. You call it too late — the parents get upset. You’re damned if you do; you’re damned if you don’t. So, it’s just a rough call.”

Several parents expressed their frustration that the school did not provide information about the incident. When Kidder asked who would prefer that officials initiate a lockdown, even if it turned out to be a false alarm, many raised their hands.

One attendee asked Adams why the threat wasn’t deemed credible after a parent called dispatch and reportedly expressed concern that there would be an active shooter event.

Adams said that Canyon View’s school resource officer Matthew Carpenter was already aware of most of the information relayed in the call, but the concern that the suspect would “shoot up the school” was new. Several other officers were also informed and were dispatched to the schools as the department determined whether there was a credible threat.

“I’m going to acknowledge, you know, lessons learned, as well, as we go forward,” he added.

Kidder said there was a Government Records Access and Management Act, or GRAMA, request for the call’s recording, but that hadn’t been released at the time of the meeting. It can now be found in the Iron County Schools Parent Group on Facebook.

The caller was in attendance, however, and said that she was told by a group of students that the teen was planning to “shoot the school out,” which is what she told dispatch. She is the mother of the boy who first reported the suspect.

“I called, and I said, ‘I’m afraid for my son’s life,”‘ she said. “I know everything is public record. I know that these kids can come back … I didn’t know what to do.”

After researching the district’s policies on how schools should respond to active shooter incidents, Pandora Saunders said, “they have nothing” outside of a “vague” policy about bomb threats and one concerning threats to schools.

The responsibility for creating such procedures falls to the Board of Education, which appears to have delegated the task to individual schools. School districts are required by the state to have a written Emergency Operations Plan that has been reviewed by teachers, administrators, students and parents by July 1 of each year, she added.

“There needs to be a policy on when to lock down and when not to,” Saunders said. “So, one of the problems that we run into with the school board and this high school, in particular, is that they keep doing whatever the police tell them to do — which is not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, that’s a great organization to listen to. The problem is that there are decisions that you make immediately — like he was talking about — and they’ve got to have some sort of guidance and principles on what to do.”

School Board member Stephanie Hill said she inquired about the Emergency Operations Plan and Johnson said that each school has written its own and he would be willing to forward them to her.

“I haven’t seen any of those plans, but I just want you to know that there is communication and apparently, there’s something,” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s something and I’m sure that we’ll all be invested as we review and update those.”

The district-wide Emergency Operations Plan can be found online and includes a detailed explanation of lockdown procedures.

Canyon View High School’s plan was shared by Saunders via Facebook and can also be found here. Both plans include information concerning lockdowns, bomb threats, intruders and more.

While many expressed gratitude for how the lockdowns on March 14 were handled, several parents expressed concern about school safety, including rumors of gang violence.

The suspect was potentially connected to six other teens, aged 17-19, that were involved in two drive-by shootings and arrested at approximately the same time. Additionally, Adams said several others were with the suspect when he allegedly physically assaulted a Canyon View High student. They were arrested later that week, as well.

While Johnnie Sillitoe said she was grateful to Adams and the school board members who were present, she questioned where Canyon View High Principal Dennis Heaton was, stating that he should address parents’ concerns about February’s incident.

“These (children) are our priceless, freaking jewels,” she said. “And the person responsible should be here.”

Safety solutions that were suggested included providing the district with a sample Emergency Operations Plan so it could be implemented more quickly, arming teachers and establishing single entry points in schools. Some parents said they would prefer to home-school or send their children to public or charter schools.

Other topics discussed included attendance and tardiness, school curriculum and mental health care in the wake of these incidents and the Haight murder.

To watch the entire discussion, visit What’s Really Happening in Southern Utah’s YouTube channel.

The Iron County School District has also scheduled a public comment time at its upcoming work meeting this Tuesday, March 21, at approximately 5:30 p.m. The meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. and can be streamed on YouTube or attended at the Office of the Board at 2077 West Royal Hunte Drive in Cedar City.

Updated, March 23, 2023, at 7:51 p.m.: Updated to include links to the emergency operations plans created by the district and Canyon View High School.

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