From Rookie to Reality Case Analysis and Rationale Template

Caitlin Hallam

Part 1: Case Analysis

1. Brief summary of the case:

Shoreline Elementary school’s principal is out indefinitely due to illness. They asked the
assistant principal from another school in the district to step in and be the interim principal.
There was a recent bomb threat that took place at the school the interim principal came from.
Upon arriving to school one day, a student and his parent notice a similar pipe bomb across the
street that was reported at the other school during their threat-situation. They report the bomb
lookalike to the interim principal who calms them down and walks across the street to get a
better view.

2. Identify the issues to be resolved:

There was a recent bomb threat at the school the interim principal came from. A similar pipe
bomb-looking object was noticed across the street from Shoreline Elementary by a student and
his parent. They point the object out to the interim principal who then goes across the street to
investigate. From there, the interim principal has to make a tough, but important decision as to
what the next steps should be.

3. Stakeholders involved in the issues:

The stakeholders involved in this issue are the students, parents and guardians, community
members, staff members, and teachers.

4. One or two existing laws or court rulings that relate to the issues:
“Section 35 of Title 18 provides civil and criminal felony provisions for the conveyance of false
information regarding attempts or alleged attempts to destroy, damage, or disable aircraft,
aircraft related facilities or motor vehicles and their related facilities” (Bomb Hoax, 1970).

5. District policies that relate to the issues:

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In the school district in which I teach, there are currently no policies about or against bomb
threats in schools. In fact, students of a school in the district are trying to push petitions to create
policies regarding bomb threats in the district. The closest district that Horry County works with
is Georgetown County School District. They have a policy in all of their handbooks that says
something along the lines of, “Level III: Criminal Conduct - May include any combination
within a category: bomb threats*” (Georgetown County, 2022).

6. Possible solutions to the issues:

 Have everyone from the drop-off lines go home with their child, evacuate the building,
and call for a delay while police and the bomb squad investigate.
 Have the children who are already in the drop-off line get out and evacuate with teachers
and staff members. Then call for police and bomb squad members to investigate.
 Report the incident to the SRO and ask them for advice as to what we should do.

7. The solution you chose to resolve the issues:

The safest option in this instance would be to have parents and their children leave the school
grounds and call for a delayed opening. This will allow time for teachers, staff, and any children
there to evacuate the building and get a safe distance away. The SRO can take a look at the
foreign object and help decide what should be done with. I would choose to have a delayed
opening and keep everyone safe, rather than risk everyone coming in the building and having it
actually be a bomb.

8. Action steps (2-5) for implementing your solution, including a timeline for each step:
1. 7:15am: Inspect foreign object and alert the SRO of what I am seeing
2. 7:20am: Call the media specialist to post on the website and social media that we are
having a delayed opening. Let the secretary know to send automated calls to families that
there is a delayed opening due to unforeseen circumstances. Have the secretary call the
police. Alert the district of the object so they can also post it online or send emails.
3. 7:30am: Send people in the car rider line home or tell them to get away from campus
while the object is investigated.
4. 7:40am: Police will investigate and will decide if the bomb squad is necessary or not.

9. Potential moral and legal consequences of the solution:

Moral consequences could include scaring people even though it is not a bomb, but the person
that put it there might not have meant to leave it. It could make the person who dropped it there
feel bad or embarrassed that they left the item there.
Legal consequences would be that we are wasting police time and resources if it turns out to be
nothing, however, most police departments have the rule of “See something, say something”.

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Part 2: Rationale

The decision to call for a delayed opening is not necessarily an easy decision, but it is
important to treat any threat as if it is an actual emergency. For years, students, teachers, and
staff members have been taking drills and threats seriously, so it would be no different when it
comes to a threat involving an explosive. The school’s mission and vision would be for all
students to be safe and have the same access to safety, academics, and socialization
opportunities. The decision to delay the opening of the school comes after taking into account the
students that are in the school. While I know not all students have the ability to come to school
via their parent or guardian, I would have to make sure that the department of transportation is
informed about the delay. The students who ride the bus would need to be taken to another
school in the district where parents or guardians are able to pick up their children, will be given
the opportunity to sign them out of the nearby school. This allows for the safeguarding of
democracy, equity, and diversity as all children will be allowed to go to another school if their
parents have to get to work or is busy with another child or familial issue. Sometimes, parents
cannot miss work, and they rely on the department of transportation to bring their children to
school in the morning so that they are not late for work. It would be essential to make sure that
students already on the bus have somewhere to go as they cannot be dropped off without a parent
or guardian being home.

The decision to keep all children and adults that come to the school safe and away from
the campus is to ensure the safety of all. This decision also promotes social justice as every
student will have somewhere to go that is a safe distance away from the school and area in case
the foreign object does actually explode. This is a part of schooling that is not always thought of
when school comes to mind. It is essential that students are safe while at school considering they
spend more time at school then they do at home. I want to ensure that students needs are being
met, especially when it comes to safety. This decision comes out of a place of setting high
expectations for the way the school is run. If I am the interim principal, I would be hoping to
keep the placement if the ill principal cannot return, so I would not ruin the chances by making
the call to carry on with the school day. I think it is safer to keep students out of the area until a
final verdict can be made regarding what the object is. Informing the community and families
quickly promotes collaboration between everyone involved in the issue. I would want any houses
or businesses near the foreign object to be aware of what we are seeing and what the police are
investigating. It would also help to lessen traffic so that the police department could properly do
their job.

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 References:

Georgetown County School District. (2022). High school student handbook.  https://cdnsm5-

ss19.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_194233/File/c_2022_2023/Handbooks/

High%20School%20Handbook%2022-23.pdf.

Hanson, Karen, 2008. Casebook for School Leaders, A: Linking the ISLLC Standards to

Effective Practice 3rd Edition. Pearson.

Imparting or conveying false information (bomb hoax), 18. U.S.C. § 35 (1970).

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