Danvers Officials Pledge To Learn From 'False Alarm' At Smith School

DANVERS, MA — Danvers school officials said they will look to refine emergency procedures and system protocols after a security system upgrade triggered an "enhanced lockdown" alarm at the Smith School.

Acting Superintendent Mary Wermers told the School Committee on Friday that the town's IT department was performing the upgrade of the front door security at the school when the emergency alarm sounded on June 14.

"No one expected it to happen," Wermers said. "According to the IT department, they looked at the protocols for upgrading and they did not say that alarm would be triggered if they ran that update, so that's why they felt it would be OK to run it when they did.

"But that was not the case."

Wermers said the school-based technology department does not perform its updates when students or teachers are in the buildings as to avoid inadvertently disrupting the school day.

School Committee Chair Robin Doherty then read a statement she prepared addressing the false alarm and the May 22 lockdown at St. John's Prep, because of a hoax "swatting" active shooter report, in which she apologized for the behavior of a School Committee member, whom she did not identify, that was "not condoned" amid the emergency response.

"In regards to both incidents, I would personally like to thank all the staff and students for their courage and bravery," she said. "They certainly emulated what it means to be 'bulldog brave.' I cannot begin to understand how traumatizing the false alarm on June 14 was for the Smith community. However, please know that we are working closely and diligently with the town to ensure an accident like this never happens in any of the schools and will provide more specific details about what changes will take place in the future.

"I would now like to take a moment to address the May 22 incident at St. John's Prep. While I understand families were concerned with the safety of their children, this also is an opportunity to remind us all that as school committee members it is never acceptable to use our role or influence as a school committee member to circumvent safety procedures that all others are expected to adhere to.

"With that, as Chair, I would like to apologize on behalf of the School Committee to the individuals who witnessed this, as this behavior is not condoned."

She said the statement was something she felt was important to express given feedback that the School Committee received following the incidents.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)