PSHS principal addresses school lockdown situation

Chris Buchholz
Principal, Philip Simmons High School
Editor’s Note: The following letter was written by Philip Simmons High School Principal Chris Buchholz to address parents, students and staff following the incident. 
 
I want to take a moment to reach out and address the incident from Friday and some concerns that may be lingering.
 
Unfortunately, on Friday, PSH joined the growing list of schools that have been affected by the presence of weapons on campuses this year.  The list seems to be growing quickly within the tri-county area, state, and nation, and we are only a month into the school year.  I have often referenced the familiar quote, “Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you respond.”  In this case, we had unfortunate choices made by a few; however, the response was amazing on many fronts.  First, I cannot stress enough how proud I am of the response from our staff and students who followed all the proper protocols to keep everyone safe.  Our school administrative team was able to safely recover the weapons from both individuals, and the local law enforcement response was immediate, including both Berkeley County
Sheriff’s Office and Charleston Police Department. It is important to note that while the presence of weapons on campus absolutely constitutes a threat to safety, there was no communicated threat to our campus or students.
 
Since Friday afternoon, I have heard from so many of our parents and community members sending messages of thanks and support for our students and staff; however, there are some that are choosing to share misinformation about the event on social media. While that is disappointing, this is only a handful of individuals. I would like to be able to discredit those that choose to spread misinformation and rumors by sharing details and truth; however, as educators, we are bound by certain privacy laws and there is a limit to what we can share. I am confident that, ultimately, everyone will recognize that spreading misinformation is divisive and does not support the goal of ensuring that our school remains a safe learning environment. I always caution students and parents not to seek information on social media, as it is often inaccurate. When there is a void of information, because we are limited in what we can share, that space can be filled with misinformation. Misinformation is often shared by those with little to no connection to the school, or simply by those who may have a personal interest in eroding support and trust in those responsible for the safety and success of our Iron Horses.
 
I also want to thank the personnel from our District Office who responded to our campus, communicated with us through the situation, and helped to provide messaging to our parents so that we could focus on the task at hand of securing the school. The communication between the school, district, and law enforcement is the hardest part of a crisis situation to manage, and this was a perfect example of what should be done in the situation. In the end, everyone played their role, whether that was a teacher in a classroom, a student sharing information, or a parent waiting for messages to confirm their student was safe. We practice for these situations year round and, while we hope we never need to use our training, when the situation called for it, the school and community responded. 
 
I often brag about our school and community when I have the opportunity to speak, and as I said in my graduation speech last year, I truly believe that we are the flagship school in the county and one of the top in the state. We rank at the top of every list and metric that is used to assess school performance, whether that is graduation rates, test scores, scholarship money, college acceptance rates, etc. In addition to our academic accolades, which are too long to list, we have one of the top athletic programs in the state and award-winning Visual & Performing Arts programs. We offer as many, or more, opportunities at our school as schools that are 3 times our size, and we have amazing community support with an extremely active PTSA and Boosters Clubs. Despite all the great things we have happening at PSH, this does not make us immune to incidents like the one that occurred on Friday. While it may feel at times that we are in a “bubble” and protected from events like Friday, we know that it is better to be prepared than naive to some of the issues that are affecting schools nationwide. Elementary, middle, or high, public, private, large, small, suburban, urban, rural ­— we have unfortunately seen tragedy nationwide at every level.
 
I recognize that people respond differently to crisis situations and that some are still fearful. To those, I say to take comfort in the response to the event, and know that we always have student safety at the forefront of our operations. Additionally, we do have resources available to support our students who would like to speak to someone about their concerns and how Friday impacted them. If your child needs to speak to someone, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or our guidance department.
 
To those that reached out with support, we are grateful. To all parents, please take this moment to talk with your students about the importance of communication. Please stress what we continue to say at school, “If you see something, say something.” We are able to be very proactive as administration when we have the right information. We investigate every report shared with us, from student conflicts to inappropriate social media posts and/or threats.  Friday’s response and actions were made possible by the information received from students, so please encourage your students to always speak up.
 
Going forward, at times, you will see an increased police presence at the school. We will be implementing additional safety protocols, and in the future, there are likely to be new district wide additions to our security measures. All of these things, while helpful, are no replacement for information we receive from students.
 
In closing, I’m so grateful to be a part of a community that responded so positively to a negative situation, and I can tell you that we will always do our part to protect every student in this building. Friday night we played our Homecoming football game in front of a very energetic crowd, and last night we had a great Homecoming Dance. It was wonderful to see everyone have a great time at each of these events. I have no doubt we will move forward from this incident ever more mindful of safety and security.
 
Thank you for your support and as always.
 
Sincerely,
Principal Buchholz
 

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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