Dear Crest Ridge Community, 

The “lockdown” event that the Daily Star Journal recently published an article on was not an emergency event that required students or staff to take shelter or even make a school wide announcement of the situation.  This situation is typically referred to as a lockout or soft lockdown.  These situations are simply an elevated level of awareness with normal classroom activities taking place within the buildings.  Administrators and front office staff also made it a point to restrict entering and exiting buildings until the event was over or we had additional information. 

In summary, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office notified us by phone that officers were pursuing someone on foot north of 50 Highway east of the school.  Buildings were notified, staff were discretely informed and we stayed on watch until we received another phone call within minutes after the first one to inform us the event was over.  I did personally talk to the Sheriff’s office during the event and was given no reason to consider putting our campus into an official lockdown.

The safety of our students and staff is top priority at Crest Ridge.  I appreciate the relationship we have with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and their continued commitment in keeping our schools safe as well. 

Sincerely, 

Brett Gray

Superintendent of Schools