A message to Carl Cozier families

Dear families,

This message is a follow-up to this morning’s safety events to answer some additional questions we have received and to provide more information about our school safety standard response protocols.

The Bellingham police called the school at 10:45 and instructed the school to go into a Lockdown protocol because of police activity in the area. Carl Cozier staff immediately followed the police’s directive and the school went into the Lockdown protocol.
Upon further clarification between BPD and our school safety supervisor, BPD changed the recommended protocol to Secure at about 10:50.

During a Secure action, all exterior doors are locked and no one can leave or enter the building, but learning and activity continues as normal within the school. This protocol is used to safeguard people within a building if there is a safety concern outside.

Upon our safety supervisor’s arrival at Carl Cozier, he and Principal Jangard immediately began releasing classrooms from the Lockdown and changing to Secure. We communicated the Secure protocol with families at 10:55.

By 11:10, the community situation was resolved, the safety protocol was lifted, and we communicated again with families. Some classrooms, however, had not yet been released from Lockdown, because each room is individually released from this protocol.

We appreciate our partnership with BPD to support the safety of our students. We have been working closely together on alignment with our safety protocols, including shared trainings and exercises. You can learn more about our safety standard response protocols at our school safety webpage.