Woodridge High lockdown raises concerns about school safety protocol

Parents at a SEQ school say they were anxiously waiting for hours to find out if students were safe after a lockdown.

Questions remain after the school’s lockdown.

Angry parents at a southside high school have questioned the Education Department’s refusal to release details of a lock down this week.

Parents at Woodridge State High School say they were kept anxiously waiting for more than three hours to get details about their children after the emergency was declared and the school gates locked.

Requests for details about the safety of the students and the incident, believed to involve a past student with a knife, were fobbed off by the school.

Police said no charges had been laid.

“Unfortunately, at this time we are unable to provide any further information. All students were safe during this time,” a school statement on Wednesday said.

Parents swamped social media pages after police were alerted and following calls to the school to get the more details.

Concerned mum Paige Wilkzz said parents were owed an explanation so they could talk about the incident at home.

Woodridge State High School parents have expressed concern about not being informed of the details that triggered a lockdown at the school this week. Picture: The Courier-Mail

“This isn’t the first lock down at the school this year – it’s just the first one we’ve been notified about,” she said.

“When you have your children come home anxious because they were put into lockdown and we weren’t notified, it makes you a little uneasy.

“How the hell, as parents, are you supposed to support your child when they’ve been through something like that if you haven’t even been told by the place that is entrusted with your child’s care?

“It was serious enough for police to be (called) … after being told that it’s not serious and there will be a media broadcast about it later. it makes me question the safety my family is in.”

Comments posted to the school’s official Facebook page revealed a mix of relief over the school’s prompt response and frustration over a perceived lack of transparency regarding the incident.

Several parents voiced frustration over restrictions on students’ phone use during school hours, which prevented some from reaching their children during the lockdown.

Others said it was important students adhered to the school rules to prevent the spread of potentially harmful or inaccurate information during emergencies.

One parent, who attempted to call the school during the lockdown, expressed unease about not being informed of the specific nature of the threat, saying, “You have my kids in your care.”

Another parent said: “I appreciate the school taking action, but we, as parents, should be informed about what happened.”

The school, however, maintained that sensitive information could not be disclosed immediately and assured parents that updates would be provided once authorised.

In a message to parents and carers hours after the incident, principal Kathleen Janecek said a member of the school community had entered school grounds without authorisation but was unable to elaborate “for privacy reasons”.

“First and foremost, I want to reassure you that we always treat the safety and welfare of your children – our students – as our highest priority,” the message said.

“As I am sure you can appreciate, for privacy reasons, we are very limited by what we can disclose about the incident.

“However, I can assure you, school staff acted promptly to ensure a safe and secure school environment was maintained.”

But two days after the incident, school officials and the Education Department are yet to release full details, but have said the incident led to immediate lockdown procedures, to protect students and staff until the school was declared safe and secure.

The Education Department confirmed that Woodridge went into a brief lockdown on Wednesday due to “unauthorised persons” on school property.

“Counselling and support is in place for all students and staff who require it. No further details can be provided due to student privacy,” the department said.

The school continues to work diligently to promote safe and respectful interactions between

students and a safe learning environment for everyone in the school community.

It is believed the school administration will continue to review safety measures in partnership with police.

Woodridge State High School’s general policy, like many schools across the state, includes lockdown procedures in response to credible threats and restricts information dissemination until a full assessment can be made by police and educational authorities.