Parents are upset about the way officials reacted when a partly masked man armed with knives turned up at Lakeville North High School, claiming he was just trying to test security precautions. The schools agree they could have "done better."
A week and a half later, he was seen near Oak Hills Elementary, though he didn't venture onto school grounds.
It wasn't until two weeks after the first incident — on June 5, the last day of school — parents received an e-mail about the incident.
"I would have wanted to know at the end of the school day," said Christen Steidl, who has two kids at Oak Hills. "I understand, you can't help crazy … [but] communication needs to be more important."
The note informed them there had been a security issue at the high school but that district officials had worked closely with police, who determined the man was not a threat.
Some parents were upset, said Linda Swanson, district spokeswoman, saying they wished they had been told immediately about the May incident. She added: "Could we have done better? Absolutely. Are we going to look at it? Absolutely."
But there's a fine line between communicating and alarming people needlessly, she said. Staff who spotted the man did what they were supposed to do and called 911, she said, and from then on, it was a police matter.
"It's just really important for people to know we didn't disregard (an actual threat)," she said.
