Social media content raised concerns: Wakefield High School principal asked for police presence on Monday
Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, reopened on Monday with more security because of “concerning social media posts circulating,” according to the school’s principal.
Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, reopened on Monday with more security because of “concerning social media posts circulating,” according to the school’s principal.
In a message to the school community on Sunday, Principal Chris Willmore said that there will be more patrols by the Arlington police around the school, including when students arrive and leave.
Willmore said in the message, “I know that this is still putting a big strain on our community’s health.”
There was nothing else in the message about the online posts.
A spokesman for the school system said that police will still be around “as a precaution,” and that there will be “more staff monitoring transitions and other unstructured time in hallways and other spaces outside classrooms.”
ARLNow, a local news site, was the first to report that there were more police around.
Wakefield started classes again on Monday, a few days after a student seemed to overdose. Thursday, an intruder also put the school on lockdown, and after all that happened this week, the school system decided to cancel classes on Friday.
Dozens of parents and students marched around the school on Friday. They wanted more security and more programs to teach students about drugs.
Willmore said that students now have access to more counseling services as of Monday.
Also on Monday, a student at Wakefield was checked out for what the school calls a possible underage drinking incident. The police in Arlington said that the student was “in possession of alcohol,” but he or she was not taken to the hospital.
The county’s school board will have a work session on Tuesday. During that time, members are likely to talk about how to teach about and prevent drug and opioid abuse in schools.
