Update: 6:21 p.m.
HPISD officials responded to BubbleLife's request for comment on Kripke's criticism of the school district Monday evening.
Helen Williams, the primary spokesperson for HPISD, said, "we have worked very closely with the [University Park] police department, and the police chief has told us that the use of handheld metal detectors is prudent at this time."
In the post, Kripke is critical of a safety update video that HPISD distributed earlier this month, which she describes as “district officials … sitting on a couch having a fake interview with the Public Relations Director.” Kripke failed to mention in the text of the article that UP Police Chief Gary Adams, along with HPHS Principal Walter Kelly and HPISD Superintendent Dr. Dawson Orr, was an integral part of the safety update.
Williams added that the FBI is still working with the district to get to the bottom of the threats that have disrupted HPHS since mid-January.
A freelance writer based in Dallas and a Park Cities mom, Kripke has publicly criticized area school districts in the past.
Original story:
As the investigation at Highland Park High School continues, questions about who is behind the bomb threats continue to swirl. And now, it seems some members of the local community are raising more questions about the way the district is handling the debacle.
Over the weekend, the incidents at the high school made the national press when a Park Cities mom and writer documented the events at HPHS on the Huffington Post.
Pamela Kripke, a freelance writer, describes the series of incidents HPHS has dealt with this semester for a national audience in "Ammunition Found in Wealthy Dallas High School; Where Are the Metal Detectors?" and also questions HPISD’s treatment of the events, calling for metal detectors in the name of safety and the evasion of school violence.
Kripke writes that she called Gary Adams, the University Park Police Chief, who told her that metal detectors would be installed at the school within days, by his recommendation to HPISD. Instead, the district opted for detector wands.
“I even tried to borrow them, meantime, from other districts, the airport,” Adams reportedly said to the local writer. Despite the urging of some HPHS parents who “suggest that [HPHS] should install permanent airport-level security,” HPISD Superintendent Dawson Orr wrote in an email to parents earlier this month that others felt walk-through detectors might “send the wrong message.”
Kripke counters:
What message is that? Is it that we, in this wealthy enclave, home to AP scholars and state champions, the George W. Bush Presidential Library and inherited fortunes, couldn't possibly have a serious problem? A real world problem? Is it that those machines are for the poor schools in other neighborhoods, the ones with the transparent backpacks and minorities and actual crime? Is it that the security equipment doesn't connote the right image?
In her Huffington Post piece, Kripke challenges HPISD's judgment, lambasting district officials for failing to call a community meeting “despite numerous requests during the past two months” to entertain opinions. She contends that the district overlooked the recommendation of local police authorities.
The writer maintains that the district has not reported to the public that the FBI is not presently involved in the investigation.
“The FBI is not investigating the threats at Highland Park High School, but will assist if asked,” an FBI spokeswoman reportedly told Kripke by phone.
How do you feel about the events at HPHS and the response of local authorities?Please comment below, or send your thoughts to angela@bubblelifemedia.com.