A state representative from Kirkwood says he’s not going to take action after a TV station’s news story causes a lockdown at the Kirkwood high school.
A KSDK TV reporter’s story on how easy it might be to gain access to Kirkwood High School during classes alarmed the faculty, resulting in a 40-minute lockdown after the school tried for an hour to confirm with the station whether he was really one of its reporters.
House Budget Director Rick Stream (R-Kirkwood) is a former Kirkwood school board member and has a brother who currently sits on that board. He says he doesn’t have many concerns.
“I think the school district handled it properly … maybe they could have acted a little quicker as far as the lockdown if they thought that there was serious danger to the students, but again I don’t like to second guess people because I wasn’t there.”
Stream hopes the incident didn’t leave students frightened in their learning environment.
“If I were a student at the school I might be a little more careful about who I see in the hallways,” says Stream. “It doesn’t help learning to have the kids afraid of what might happen around the corner.”
Stream says he doesn’t intend to file a bill or push for a legislative investigation of the incident.
KSDK has apologized to parents, school staff and students for causing the lockdown. Comments on its Facebook page have been largely critical of the station, with some criticizing the school for not being more secure or for not acting faster to lock down.