ROME, ONEIDA CO. -- Classes resumed as normal at Rome Free Academy Thursday morning after the school locked down Wednesday for more than four hours when three bullets were found in the building. Now the Rome City School District is reassessing its communications protocols.
Parents found out most of the information of Wednesday's events from text messages from their students. However, officials say it's a double-edged sword. While some parents appreciated knowing their kids were safe inside the building, false rumors of a gunman in the building scared others.
Rome Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Simons says the incident was an unprecedented one at the school. He says RFA will now reevaluate how much students are allowed to text in emergency situations. Simons says,
"Many of the parents shared with me yesterday that they were very comforted by the fact that their child had text messaged them that they were okay."
Anne Daniello works at RFA and is a parent of a senior at the school. She was inside RFA during the lockdown. She says the communication students had with their parents is what kept the situation from worsening,
"During an emergency situation like that, I think it was best that the kids could have contact with their parents," Daniello says. "It kept everybody calm."
Meanwhile, police are still investigating the bullets that were found in the school and say they've separated the cases. One investigation will focus on the bullet found in the technology center. The second investigation is closed, police say, and will focus on the bullets found in backpacks.
Discipline is pending in the second investigation.
Superintendent Simons says the lockdown at Rome Free Academy began at about 10:00 a.m. Wednesday after a .22-caliber bullet was discovered by students in a technology classroom. A search by authorities of classrooms and nearly 3,000 lockers turned up two other bullets.
Rome Public Safety Commissioner James Masucci says having bullets in school isn't a crime so no one will be charged, although the school may impose disciplinary measures. Simons says school authorities are still working to determine who brought the bullets to the school.
Students were released from their classrooms at 2:30 p.m.
