Incidents also at Liberty, Celebration last week
This week got off to a much quieter start in the Osceola County School District’s high schools than it ended last week.
In the wake of Osceola High School being placed on lockdown midday Friday after a report of a gun on campus — it turned out to be a BB gun in a student’s backpack — the Kissimmee campus was “very quiet” Monday according to one teacher.
Despite the Kissimmee Police Department releasing a Facebook statement over the weekend that there were no additional threats at the school and providing an expanded officer presence on campus that morning, many parents choose to keep students home, or the students chose that themselves. There were many responses to KPD’s message to that effect, talking of students and parents hearing an actual gunshot, despite KPD’s report Friday that the BB gun found was not fired.
A P.E. teacher said OHS was “a ghost town … I’ve had five kids the entire day,” by about 1:15 p.m. Monday, and another teacher reported having “four out of 70ish” students in class.
The school offered to make Monday absences excused, with work made up virtually (Remember online learning?) through Microsoft Teams. A ninth-grade curriculum night was postponed, and all athletic events and practices were canceled Monday.
Things on Thacker Avenue by noon Monday looked normal outside OHS, a far cry from 72 hours prior. Police had the street blocked off south of Patrick Street in the afternoon hours after the lockdown; parents were seen parking along Emmett Street and other side streets to pick up students.
The call about the weapon came from on campus, KPD said. Officers were able to view video to locate the student with the gun, who they apprehended off campus. Police cleared the campus without further incident, with no other threats found.
Due to their proximity to OHS, Thacker Avenue Elementary and the Kissimmee YMCA at Thacker and Mabbette Street were also briefly placed on lockdown Friday. A YMCA official said it put its protocols into place to protect children at the facility in its youth program.
Friday culminated “a long week” at county high schools. On Tuesday, the School District reported that several Celebration High School students were taken to a hospital after ingesting “edible gummies”, possibly CBD, on campus, provided by an 18-year-old woman, who school officials have not yet confirmed if she is a CHS student.
Then on Wednesday, Liberty High School was briefly on lockdown around 7:30 a.m. when a group of students told a staff member there was a weapon on campus. The Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office investigated, and searched the school and the students, who later admitted the report was a joke — no weapon was found. The lockdown was lifted by 8 a.m.Those students face disciplinary action, an Osceola County School District spokesperson said.
