Superintendent: two weapon incidents reported at county schools; students alerted staff and SROs responded

Superintendent Dr. Perrigan told the Washington County Public Schools board that two safety incidents occurred last week: a fake weapon at one school and an actual weapon at another. In both cases, students reported the situation to administrators, who notified school resource officers (SROs) and activated school response procedures.

"Our students, first and foremost, brought in both situations ... which is just another example of how relationships are so important," Dr. Perrigan said. He told the board staff and SROs “did just a flawless job” in responding and that the district has scheduled a debrief with involved staff to review what worked and what could improve.

Dr. Perrigan said the debrief will serve two purposes: to make sure the district did not overlook anything and to allow the two administrators involved to share the response steps with other administrators across the county as a teachable case. "Even though we don't ever want to go through those situations ... we can use those as a teachable moment," he said.

The superintendent did not provide names of students or specifics about the weapon types, and the board did not announce any disciplinary or criminal outcomes during the public session. The district said it will use the debrief to refine procedures and to inform administrators countywide.