Peek: School followed safety plan

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Alba Middle School in Bayou La Batre held a parent meeting Thursday, Jan. 10 to discuss Wednesday's gun on campus incident.

Some parents asked why they were not notified. 

Mobile County School system has a notification system called "School Messenger," its Website states the message system will notify families quickly in the event of an emergency.

But Wednesday, it was not used during the situation at Alba Middle School, where a loaded gun was found in the backpack of an eighth grader.

“The school yesterday followed their safety plan. They handled the situation according to the safety plan, notified the law enforcement officials as well as the resource officer, isolated the incident and took care of it,” said Mobile County Public Schools Superintendent Martha Peek.

Superintendent Martha Peek said the decision to activate the system rests with the principal.

“Certainly, if it was an incident where there was a situation where any one was harmed or there was any indication that harm was going to be done to the students and any need to clear the campus or anything like that,” said Peek.

Peek said the principal needs to decide if the situation requires hundreds of parents rushing to the school.  

She said that action could make things worse for kids and first responders.

“I think the principal used good judgment in this incident in that it was handled it was taken care of. Students on campus overall had not been aware there was a problem,” said Peek.

The School Messenger system requires parents to have all phone numbers and e-mail accounts on file with the school. 

A robo-call is broadcast to the phones and e-mail, the system is used regularly for day-to-day announcements.  

Superintendent Peek praised the students who notified faculty of the gun and is glad the incident ended peacefully without injury.

Mobile County Schools has programs in place for students to discuss safety plans, character building, and reporting incidents like this one to faculty.