Courtesy of San Benito High School Superintendent Shawn Tennenbaum:
Starting Thursday just after the lunch hour, San Benito High School shared with our community that we were aware of rumors regarding a potential school shooting on campus. An immediate, thorough investigation took place, in conjunction with the Hollister Police Department, and we confirmed that the rumors lacked credibility. Despite this, Principal Adrian Ramirez worked to ensure that the appropriate precautions were taken and that we consistently communicated with families and the community to assure that our established protocols were being followed.
We shared updates through email, dialers, our website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as warranted, continuing our pledge to provide forthright communication in a timely manner.
I want to thank Principal Ramirez for his quick, honest and thoughtful outreach, the HPD and Chief David Westrick for the collaboration and increased presence on and around campus these past two days, and our faculty, staff and administrators for their steady, measured and caring response to student concerns.
We are consistently reflecting on our procedures and protocols based on current events to provide the safest learning environment possible for all students. We appreciate the communication from our parents, guardians and school community, as the open dialogue is critical.
Chief Westrick and the police department were present and communicative as they augmented our campus security to provide an extra layer of patrol on and around campus. We value that partnership.
While there continues to be no credibility or validity to the rumors, we want to reassure parents, students and the community that we’ll continue to remain vigilant and provide updates, as necessary. We appreciate everyone’s vigilance and concern and want to note for parents that students who did not attend school Friday will be marked absent, but there will not be punitive measures taken as a result of those absences, due to the situation.
Our school and community are one because of the care and concern we have for our students. During stressful or uncertain times, that support shows them what the Baler STRONG core values are all about
Sincerely,
Dr. Shawn Tennenbaum, San Benito High School District superintendent
