Background Image via City of Brookland
Arkansas — Many Northeast Arkansas schools have been forced into a lockdown just months into the school year as bomb and shooting threats are rising. This report takes a dive into the effects on students and how to fix the problem.
The schools of Brookland, Harrisburg, Nettelton, Valley View, Douglas MacArthur, Kennett and more have all been threatened at least once this year and many students have been impacted.
I spoke to three students of Brookland High School about the situation and what they believe is the problem and their answers ranged from a number of different fixes. Names of the students will remain unidentified because of the sensitivity of the topic.
- Student One
- A male student in the eighth grade told Brookland News that the teachers shall be armed, and even suggested the janitors should also be armed. This student said the recent situation at Brookland Public Schools was not scary, but admitted that there was a problem.
- Student Two
- A female student in the tenth grade told BN that it scares her when things like this occur, and that she tries to focus as to what’s going on as she is scared inside. This student also hinted to an incident that occured last year about a “malfunction” in the security system which triggered a lockdown because of a supposed active shooter, “if the school is going to spend so much money on security how is there going to be a malfunction.”
- Student Three
- A female senior told BN that “I don’t f—-ing play like that” when asked her feeling on the situations. This student went on to suggest that these incidents are failures in security. A student next to her pointed the state of the arch security Brookland Public Schools is equipped with.
As this story was in production and BN was speaking to students, Brookland Public Schools faced another threat where a person was arrested. The school did not go on lockdown and the statement from BPS stated, “Following their [police] investigation an arrest has been made. The investigation is ongoing at this time.
Just weeks before this story was published, Brookland Public Schools was forced into a soft-lockdown following a domestic incident with an adult from Pocahontas, Arkansas.
Brookland News reached out to every Arkansas congressmen, Arkansas, Sen. Tom Cotton, Sen. John Boozman and Rep. Rick Crawford.
While not only reaching out to those who represent Arkansas at the national level, Brookland News also reached out to those at the state level. Those being state representatives Frances Cavenaugh, Jack Ladyman, Johnny Rye, Jon Milligan, State Sen. Dave Wallace and State Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Rep. Jon Milligan, whom represents Brookland told BN, “This is an unfortunate situation that happens much to often in our society today. I believe it’s a mental health issue that needs to be addressed in our state and in our country.“
Milligan went on to cite his work as Lake City Mayor, “When I was mayor of Lake City I helped get police officers in our school there and will always continue to work with the schools to help in any way.
Rep. Jon Milligan, District 33 Full Statement:
“This is an unfortunate situation that happens much to often in our society today. I believe it’s a mental health issue that needs to be addressed in our state and in our country. Rep Vaught and Rep Cavanaugh have led the way on this issue with multiple meetings and legislation which help lead to the Governors announcement in Feb 2024 for 30 million dollars to be set aside to address mental health issues. The learns bill we passed has a mental health piece in it to hopefully help the schools in the mental health area. Also in June the Gov. started the Pilot program for schools to join on for phones to be locked up at school. Hopefully if we keep pushing and working on this issue it will help curve the threats to schools and help all of society.
I believe our schools do an outstanding job on safety and being prepared as much as possible for the safety of their students and teachers. When I was mayor of Lake City I helped get police officers in our school there and will always continue to work with the schools to help in any way.
We Also have passed legislation for more training for officer to help them recognize someone that needs help in this manner. We also this last fiscal session met with our CSU Crisis Stabilization Units and got them the funding they needed to operate more efficiently and be able to help more people. “
— Arkansas Rep. Jon Milligan, District 33
State Rep. Jack Ladyman, who represents Jonesboro sent a statement days after the story was published, and called for the legislature, local agencies, county officials, city officials and school officials need to work together to implement a number of different resources and polices.
State Rep. Jack Ladyman, District 32 Full Statement:
“”School safety and responding to a threat of violence at our schools is very important to me. I have grandkids in Jonesboro area schools and am very interested in making our schools as safe as possible. I was a mayor in Northwest Arkansas and worked very close with our school in that city. One very important thing is to have an adequate number of fully trained and qualified Resource Officers at each school campus. Also, have a good threat response plan that is tested with frequent drills so that everyone knows what to do if a real threat occurs. I have attended many meetings where new equipment to combat threats have been previewed and discussed. I think each of our schools should be reviewing this new equipment that is available. The weapon detection equipment that I and other Legislators reviewed in Little Rock are very good. Funding this equipment is the issue. We are trying to find funding for this equipment, however, local Superintendents and School Boards can help with funding. Also, better communications with local Public Safety Agencies such as police, fire and first responders is very important. New apps and radio systems are available that can send out a threat notice to school administrations and local public safety agencies simultaneously. This would be a great improvement at any school. Again, funding is needed. The legislature, local agencies, county officials, city officials and school officials need to work together to implement as many of these systems as possible.”
— Arkansas Rep. Jack Ladyman
We gave the politicians more than two days to answer, and this story will be updated once more respond. But only two answered, allowing for more questions to come their way as to if they are even doing anything to assist in incidents across Arkansas and America.
Brookland Public Schools has come into light in recent years for their “model for the state” security. As Brookland is one of the only districts to have a command center which has many functions.
The command centers main role is to watch cameras and communicate if something were to occur.
Following incidents prior, Brett Bunch, Superintendent of Brookland Public Schools has praised the work of all staff in keeping students safe. In a statement to BN Bunch said the security team, administration, teachers and students did amazing and everyone was in no harm from start to finish of the lockdown.
On October 3rd, Wesley Miller, Brookland High School principal spoke to students on these incidents. Miller called a school shooting his “worst nightmare,” and called on students to say something when they see/hear something.
Brookland High School’s School Resource Officer Conner Baldwin also spoke to students. Baldwin highlighted what occured to the suspect of the first lockdown at Brookland, saying with a $1 million bond “he’s not getting out.”
These incidents are not isolated to Arkansas, lockdowns have occurred across the nation rather false or a real threat. And there has already been multiple school shootings. Since June 6, 2024 there has been 14 school shootings, according to a list of school shootings in America.
In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Sanders has launched a pilot program for Arkansas schools to provide funding for phone pouches.
Sarah Huckabee-Sanders’ office released a statement to Brookland News, “Arkansas’ phone-free schools program isn’t about taking anything away. It’s about giving kids the freedom to learn without distractions. Around 75% of Arkansas districts plan to join our initiative, showing parents and teachers’ widespread support for restricting in-school phone use.”
Brookland Public Schools adopted a policy, two years ago, that prohibited devices in the classroom. “Cell phones/electronic devices may be used on school grounds before school, during lunch, between class periods, and after school,” rule 13 in the schools’ handbook states.