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Some parents at a private Auburn school are upset they were kept in the dark about a shooting threat written on a bathroom wall, even though police investigated and deemed it not credible.

The threat was found at Holy Family Catholic School – a private K-8 – on November 2 by a parent who is also a King County Sheriff’s Deputy. The threat promised to shoot up the school on November 14. But parents did not find out about the incident until November 18.

One parent, who asked to remain anonymous because he didn’t want his daughter’s education to be disrupted by speaking out, told 成人X站 Radio he’s upset with the way the school handled the situation and parents deserved to know about the threat.

“We didn’t get that warning at all. [The principal] didn’t provide that warning so after the fact we all get this letter stating there was a threat. I just want an opportunity to be able to protect my child. That’s all I’m asking for,” the parent said.

Holy Family School Principal Katy Feeny said that part of the reason she didn’t tell parents was because the Auburn Police didn’t consider the scrawl a credible threat.

“We determined pretty quickly that it wasn’t one of our students. The graffiti appeared on the weekend when those bathrooms were open for the public during masses. But those bathrooms are not accessible to anyone during school hours, so that was another consideration,” said Feeny.

Feeny said she asked the deputy his advice that day and he told her not to inform parents of the threat, which she refers to now as graffiti. She said she finally sent a letter home to families after a parent who knew about the threat started talking and rumors spread around the school community.

In her first letter to parents, Feeny maintains she followed the direction of law enforcement when she decided not to disclose the incident. However, both Auburn Police and the King County Sheriff’s Department dispute that.

“Short of an active threat it is always the school or businesses decision on how to notify (or not) employees or customers,” said King County Sheriff’s Sergeant D.B. Gates. “The fact that the principal in the letter identifies the parent as a deputy and characterizes any conversations they had as official advice is her mistake.”

Still, Feeny insists she did the right thing. She said she would’t have said anything at all to parents if the rumor of a threat hadn’t spread.

“Everyone felt that it wasn’t necessary to raise the parents fears needlessly. In the end, after everything was said and done, that judgment was correct because nothing happened,” said Feeny.

But the parent speaking on condition of anonymity said he’s been on high alert ever since the Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting October 24 that killed five students, including the teen shooter.

“The one from Marysville – just what’s been going on around the nation, as a whole, school shootings as a whole everywhere. I just don’t understand her thought process, as to why she would not notify anyone about this,” said the parent.

The parent contrasts this incident to one: just a few weeks earlier at Auburn Riverside High School.

A threat written on the wall of a boys’ bathroom was found just days before the Marysville-Pilchuck Shooting, reading “I’ll shoot the school up 10-30-14,” according to police.

Even though that threat was found not credible, the school’s principal sent a letter home, asked for extra police officers to patrol campus, and kept the school on lockdown throughout in the days before the culprit promised to start shooting. Auburn Riverside’s principal even said students who feared coming to school could stay home on the day of the threat.

Feeny, the Holy Family School principal, said her school is always on high alert, which is why she never requested assistance from Auburn Police.

“Every day we live with a plan to secure. We have a fence that secures the perimeter, the gates are locked as soon as the school day begins, the only entrance to the school is through a video camera that buzzes individuals in after identification,” said Feeny.

The Archdiocese is now investigating that procedures were followed.

Some parents reached out to 成人X站 Radio at Feeny’s request, saying they supported Principal Feeny and consider the school a safe and positive place for their children.

Still, the anonymous parent said they deserved to know.

“You’ve got to have trust with the person that’s taking care of your kids for seven hours out of the day. You need to have the trust that they’re going to have your kids’ safety at heart and I don’t have that at all with her right now,” said the parent. “Now if threat was there and she would’ve called or sent out a memo stating this threat was made on November 2, we deem it not to be a viable threat, then I would’ve taken it a lot different.”

Here is the entire text of an email sent by Principal Feeny to parents Nov. 23:

Dear Holy Family Parents,

Some of the accusations, implications, and falsehoods spread over the last week have been quite shocking regarding me and security at Holy Family School. It has taken much reflection and prayer for me to sort through it, and I would like to communicate and clarify a few things:

PHILOSOPHY/STRATEGY

As an administrator responsible for the safety of the school, I consider that the school is under threat every day. It is an unfortunate byproduct of the times in which we live. Having been a teacher and principal in the Bronx, I have carried the lessons of the NYPD and FDNY with me to upstate New York and suburban New Jersey where I was also administrator. In my last school – a Grade 8-12 High School of 1000 students – I was part of a 3-person lead team creating, organizing, and implementing the crisis plan in conjunction with local law enforcement. This plan was comprehensive and covered every contingency.

Although the details of a Crisis Plan (i.e., evacuation sites, logistics) are not to be made public so as to give intruders information they can use against the school or students, I would like to enumerate some enhancements I have made since arriving. These are not after-the-fact security enhancements – I have been working on the security of HFS since Day 1:

DAILY LOCKDOWN

With the advent of the new front doors, we have been able to secure the school plant. Until then, really anyone could walk in through the open gate from the parking lot. It is now necessary to come to 17th Street, ring the video bell, and be buzzed in after identification. The students are safer.

RECESS

There have been two security enhancements and procedures put into place since the first day of school:

1. At lunchtime recess, the children have been trained to immediately stop and line up when called by me or one of the teachers. This is not just for good order, but for security: should a situation warrant the need to go to lockdown from recess, it is imperative that the students move quickly. Ask your son/daughter about how they run to their lines – it is a beautiful thing! It gives me confidence that – should I need to order them into the building/classrooms in an emergency – we would be able to get to the ultimate location in a matter of seconds.

2. Since the beginning of school I have insisted that Grades K-3 teachers stay with their classes during mid-morning and mid-afternoon recesses. This is not just for the safety of your children – past practice was to have one teacher out with approximately 60 children – but for security. As above, should a situation arise where students need to move inside the building – or to an alternate location – the teachers are a necessary part of controlling that situation immediately and effectively. I have received much resistance on assigning this duty, but have remained unwavering because – as administrator – I am responsible for the safety and security of your children.

PLAYGROUND

In the past garbage and other things were found on the grass behind the playground, I am told. This became less of a problem with the installation of the fence around the perimeter of the school/parish. This year, every day Ms. Hussey’s morning duty is to walk the field and be sure that it is safe for the children to play on it. If she has not cleared it, the children do not go on the grass. This has been in place since the first day of school.

EARTHQUAKE DRILL

Earthquake drills and procedures are new to me鈥� so, I have learned about our existing procedure and the whole school participated in the State-wide 10:16 on 10/16 earthquake safety drill. I also have assessed the status of the container with our earthquake supplies and discussed with some men of the parish the need to fix the doors and clear out the container to make the emergency supplies accessible.

RECENT EVENT

The message in the bathroom left on November 2 was determined by law enforcement not to be a specific threat against HFS. Please know that, if it had been, you would have been notified and the school would have been closed if necessary. Your child’s safety is paramount. Some have cited RCW law, and the superintendent’s office has looked into the statute. If it did apply to Catholic schools (and it does not), it would not be pertinent in this case: the threat was not from one of our students, which is a necessary element of this law. (Handwriting analysis and threat assessment was conducted to determine this immediately after the graffiti was found.)

COMMUNICATION

After the power outage day, I contacted an app developer that works with schools to develop a communications tool not dependent upon power. The HFS app should be ready in a few weeks. Until that time, we are dependent upon electricity and internet for emergency alerts. I am also in conversations with another company to see if there is another, cost-effective method for emergency communications to parents.

CRISIS PLAN

In our August faculty meetings, I created a team to review the existing procedures and to update them. As I stated above, the details of a Crisis Plan are not public, for security reasons. Please know, however, that – unless directed specifically by law enforcement not to – informing you, our parents, is one of the primary steps of any crisis procedure.

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

God bless,
Miss Feeney