This prompted Principal Scott Mackintosh at Loudon High School to update his students and staff on their procedures since this issue hit so close to home.

Principal MacKintosh said when he heard about what happened at Sequoyah High School, he spoke to his school resource officers about what they would need to do in that situation.

“It hit me a little bit and I thought, you know, I’m going to talk to our folks,” he said.
 

Loudon County High School is just 30 minutes away from Sequoyah High School.

When the Monroe County School faced a potentially deadly drug-related event, MacKintosh in Loudon County wanted to make sure they were doing all they could to protect their students and staff.

“Are we doing enough right now, have we practiced these scenarios enough, have we talked to administrative teams and safety teams about how we would react if this were to happen to us,” MacKintosh questioned?

He wrote an open letter on Facebook to both students and their families stating that “these issues are not limited to surrounding schools.”

“It’s difficult for students nowadays to feel like they need to be the ones to keep themselves accountable,” he stated. “And what I mean by that is, telling someone if they see something that’s not appropriate or may be unsafe.”

MacKintosh said Loudon High School has two school resource officers and one school nurse, “They’re invaluable to us so we are in constant communication about what’s going on and what we can do better.”

His message was to both parents and students and said safety plans are always in place, but students should always keep their eyes and ears open.

“We’re working with our kids at their level. We’re building relationships that are positive, encouraging our staff to know the kids more than just on the level of the content that they’re teaching. So if we do that I think that we’ll create a culture that school is a safe place to be.”

Mackintosh said safety plans are communicated to staff on a regular basis and drills are practiced as required by state and district standards.

“We’re working with our kids at their level. We’re building relationships that are positive, encouraging our staff to know the kids more than just on the level of the content that they’re teaching. So if we do that I think that we’ll create a culture that school is a safe place to be.”

Mackintosh said safety plans are communicated to staff on a regular basis and drills are practiced as required by state and district standards.