Gardner Edgerton High School students say they hid in locked classrooms fearing an immediate threat while others left the building during an incident they later learned involved a medical emergency.
They are calling for answers about emergency alerts, evacuation instructions and communication with students, staff and families. Other commenters defended school employees responding to an uncertain situation.
Kaitlyn Sleeper, who identified herself as a student directly affected by the incident, said an intruder lockdown alert sounded while staff were responding to a student’s medical emergency. She described hearing instructions to “lock down, stay in place, and hide.”
Sleeper said students and staff spent approximately 40 minutes or longer in dark classrooms, bathrooms and closets, believing there was a threat inside the school.
Sleeper said the uncertainty led some students to contact their families.
“I know multiple people, including myself, who called or texted parents to say I love you and were worried that our parents wouldn’t see it in time,” she said.
Arlie Young, a GEHS freshman, described spending more than 30 minutes in a locked classroom wondering whether she would survive.
“I was terrified,” Young said.
Several parents described receiving calls from children who had left the school’s Advanced Technical Center (ATC).
Carrie Fredericksen said her junior called while being evacuated from the ATC. Sara Powell Griffin said her student wanted to walk home but was worried about a sister who remained at school.
Cristal Miranda said her daughter went to Madison Elementary and contacted her during the incident. Both were concerned about another child still inside the high school, she said.
Rachel Kroh, a district teacher and GEHS parent, said her son called at 9:15 a.m. after being told to leave school. Unsure where to go, he went home, she said.
Kroh called for clearer planning about where students should go, while also defending staff members making urgent decisions with the information available to them.
“I do believe there needs to be learning from the situation, but I feel in my core that every staff member made decisions based on what they thought was best and safest for students in that moment,” she said.
Crystal Ryland also defended the response. She said that a teacher pressed an emergency badge incorrectly, triggering a lockdown rather than a medical alert.
“I know a lot of parents and students were panicked and stressed, but it sounds like everyone did the best they could in the situation,” Ryland said.
Sleeper also expressed support for teachers responding to the emergency. Her criticism focused on communication from administrators and the district.
She said two emails were sent afterward and disputed the first message’s characterization that learning continued normally. Olathe Today has not obtained either email to verify its wording or timing.
Several are raising objections to school cellphone restrictions, Sleeper repeatedly emphasized that better communication was her central concern.
She urged students, parents and staff to bring their experiences and questions to the USD 231 Board of Education.
Among the questions raised are when school leaders understood the reason for the alert, when that information reached classrooms, and how students who left the building were directed and accounted for.
Something Different Media Group
