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Canfield lockdown perfect in search for Mickey Mouse
By Elise Franco
Canfield
School district officials said an unplanned lockdown at C.H. Campbell Elementary School was executed perfectly Tuesday.
The school, at 300 Moreland Dr., was locked down that afternoon after a parent failed to tell the building principal that she was surprising her daughter’s classroom dressed as Mickey Mouse, said Superintendent Dante Zambrini.
During Wednesday’s school board meeting Zambrini explained that the woman followed procedure by signing in at the office when she arrived but changed into the costume in a restroom, went to the classroom and then changed back out of the costume.
“It was a case of, Mickey Mouse was here, and then he was missing,” Zambrini said.
“Our building principal called our school resource officer and the building went into lockdown as a precaution.”
Zambrini said police and district officials spoke with the woman and determined that she meant no harm.
She, along with many other parents, were visiting the school for Valentine’s Day parties.
He said the lockdown went well, and he is meeting with the school’s assigned police officer today to discuss it.
“We do practice lockdown drills,” Zambrini said. “This is the one time we’ve had to put it in effect.”
Adrianne Sturm, school board president, said the lock-down systems are in place for this very reason.
“It’s certainly something we take seriously, though it’s a shame we have to have these systems,” she said. “It went into effect very well [Tuesday.]”
Jeff Barone of Canfield said during the board meeting that he has a child who attends C.H. Campbell and was pleased with how the situation was handled.
“There’s no worse feeling than going to pick your daughter up from school and not being able to get inside,” Barone said. “It was awesome to see everything go into effect. ... Hopefully, we’ll never have to deal with anything like this again.”