Muskogee school parent Rosemay Stewart recalls sensing a problem when she picked up her son at Grant Foreman Elementary School on Friday, March 30, and seeing campus police and upper level school administrators.

However, she said it was not until the following Monday that she received official notification of what had happened. A bomb threat had been called in, less than 20 minutes before the end of school March 30. School administrators said they had no time that day to contact parents of more than 400 students who go to the school.

Keeping students safe and parents informed can be a delicate balance. Area school officials say they are seeking ways to improve school security and public communication. For example, Muskogee and Wagoner public schools are looking at ways to send mass messages to parents’ telephones, e-mails or Palm Pilots.

House Bill 1512 requires all schools and colleges to have on file written plans and procedures for protecting students, staff and visitors from “natural or manmade disasters or emergencies.”

Incidents listed as manmade disasters include: Act of war, terrorism, chemical spill or release or power shortage requiring “outside assistance.”

However, a “thin line” separates how much of those procedures can be shared with students, parents or school patrons, said Gayle Jones, co-director of the State Department of Education’s Comprehensive Health program, which encompasses school safety.

“In our school crisis codes, there is no reason for students and parents to have some of that information, for example, codes schools have for lockdowns,” Jones said. “However, parents have the right to ask schools ‘Do you have a crisis plan.’ We want everyone to be informed, but parents also need to trust that school authorities know what to do in case of an emergency.”

Muskogee Public Schools Campus Police Chief Dan Hall said there are some safety procedures “we want to keep in-house.”

“We don’t want someone outside familiar with what we do,” Hall said, adding that someone with criminal or mischievous intentions might look at the procedures and find a way around them.

Stewart and other parents said they had heard that the caller told the school not to let anyone out of the building.

Hall confirmed the caller did say not to let anyone out of the building. However, he said the main reason was that police and officials wanted to search the school for suspicious items.

“With security in place, you keep the kids safe until you have enough information to make an educated decision,” he said.

He cited the 1998 incident in Jonesboro, Ark., in which two boys tripped a fire alarm, hid outside, then shot their classmates as they filed outside.

Muskogee School Superintendent Mike Garde said, “We have specific protocol depending on what is said by the caller.”