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UDSD Superintendent's Comments on Monday Morning Incident

Superintendent Michael Pladus discusses the Monday morning incident that occurred at Upper Dublin High School.

 

Editor's Note: This was sent via the Upper Dublin School's e-mail listserv:

Dear Parents and Guardians,

In his remarks to the nation this past week-end, President Obama stated that the people of Newtown, Connecticut, were not alone and that their suffering would be shared by all of us as Americans as we all feel the impact of the worst school shooting in our nation's history.

All of our school faculties and staffs met this morning prior to the arrival of students to better prepare for what questions students might have and what they might be feeling in the aftermath of Friday. Little did we know that a situation at our high school this morning would result in much concern and media attention.

In the course of reviewing video monitors at the high school, one of our security guards noticed an image of a student holding something, that although difficult to see clearly, appeared as if it could be a gun of some type. The behavior of the student along with a few other students with him seemed suspicious, and the high school administration immediately notified the Upper Dublin Police and announced a "lock down" to have students remain in first period classes. A police investigation immediately ensued, and it was determined (thankfully) that the object in question was an umbrella.

When interviewed by the local media, a question was asked of our Assistant Superintendent, Bob Schultz, whether or not today's events would have unfolded the same way had Friday not occurred. This is not an easy one to answer, but given the circumstances I believe we would have proceeded as we did.  In truth, the nature of Friday's tragedy has created a heightened sense of concern and alarm for all of us, but ensuring the safety of all students and staff is always our priority. The high school administration, the security guards, the faculty, staff, and students with the immediate assistance of the Upper Dublin Police Department all were commendable in their response.

I’m sure you agree that this was a difficult day for all of us. On behalf of the Board of School Directors, Administration, faculty and staff, we appreciate your understanding and support.

Sincerely,
Michael Pladus
Superintendent of Schools

Related Topics: Michael Pladus and Upper Dublin High School

andthatsthetruth

1:51 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

What does this say? The superintendent had to make a statement to keep face and this is all words. Sounds like your security guard assumed and caused a big deal. Fix the tajmahl video cameras so you can clearly see what you are looking at.
You have more problems with the security in that school. Parents running into the school because the doors were unlocked allowing easy acess while investigating the sceen wasn't such a smart idea was it? As reported in other cities around the country, the way this was handled was not very well.

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Speaking Softly

8:31 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012

Ahhh, Blog comments and buttholes....everyone has one and they all STINK.

andthatsthetruth

2:45 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Probably over disciplined for something they weren't doing - except horsing around amongst themselves. :(

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FrankieB

3:26 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

this is so typical of the UD school system, their reaction, the parents in a tizzy, and the usual cover up memo from Pladus.

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Peter

5:24 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Hopefully NO disciplinary action has been taken against a student with an UMBRELLA. The school will probably push the blame onto them for their over-reaction

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FrankieB

7:04 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

hot about flogging, high noon, under the high school flag ploe.
lets keep the mothers in a tizzy.
"oh the horror, the horror"

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andthatsthetruth

7:33 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

BTW, this is not an acceptable concept for eBay to sell these strange things. This needs to be reported to eBay in alot of numbers to remove this item. I have look through and only this one Seller is selling this item. Where is their conscience? Report the item as prohibited. eBay will not let you sell anything that is gun related without the orange plug. They are violating policy. Looks like they have just sold 4 get this off now.

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udsdstudent

8:02 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n579/2shopper/umbrella-2.jpg
This was the umbrella used. Why are you commenting about this if you don't have your facts straight?

udsdstudent

8:01 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

No disciplinary action was given

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udsdstudent

10:51 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

1. It was used as a sword as we were thoughtful enough to film the nerf guns at home after what happened Friday. 2. This point aside, I would like to advise you to avoid judgment until actually hearing the entire story.

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Jeanne

1:12 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012

I am with you on that. People rush to judgement without all the info.

David Franklin

12:38 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012

What ever happened to "The Buck Stops Here" type of leadership that Harry Truman had? It should be Rittenhouse that steps up, as principal, and says, "I'm taking responsibility for this." Both he and the superintendent are more than willing to let workers lower on the food chain take the blame. How cowardly of them. Either Rittenhouse should resign or be fired. And since Pladus is abetting this, the honorable thing would be for him to step down......or be fired. This was a major, major foul-up on their part.

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Jeanne

1:15 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012

What...? Where the heck is Forest Hill Regent Square area and why are you so wrapped up in UD business?

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FrankieB

7:31 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012

send pladus and rittenhouse with the rest of the surplus UD equipment to Ethiopia.
free flight on boeing 777

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Adam Young

11:24 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012

David - You're absolutely correct!

FrankieB

8:22 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012

children are no longer taught common sense and responsibility by their parents.
We expect the schools to feed them knowledge, but no life skills.
Mother's raise their children like veal., constantly hovering, worrying about every rumor, and perceived slight.
UD has many hover moms, with their e-mais, robo calls,texts all generating a state of panic and tizzy, which the kids pick up on, and think is the norm.
Priorities are skewed.
No wonder there is no think before you act.

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Mike

7:02 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012

^Couldn't be any more irrelevant to the situation or what happened. You clearly have no idea what happened and are judging based on your self-fueled speculation. They are brilliant kids and I don't know how much more I can emphasize that. Yet, you think you can make some outrageously false conclusion about them based off nothing. To think that adults, like yourself, are supposed to be the elderly in our community is kind of shameful considering you don't know that you should not make judgments about someone you do not know.

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Lisa

12:37 pm on Sunday, January 13, 2013

FrankieB, clearly you know UD personally, and you couldn't be more right. Glad I ran for the hills when I was finally able to. Enjoy your little fiscal cliff, UD!

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