Lovell school incident highlights preparedness

LOVELL – A school secretary sensed something was amiss when a man darted through the front door without checking in. Seconds later, she acted instinctively when a state trooper burst in, asking “Which way did he go?”

Linda Dunlea announced a “Level II” situation over the intercom and teachers cleared the hallways and locked down classrooms as police chased the intruder through the school. Lights were turned out; kids were told to hide under their desks.

The intruder ran down the hallway, through the empty cafeteria, then back outside, where he was arrested as children peered from the art room window.

The safe conclusion of Monday’s incident – no one at New Suncook Elementary School was hurt – underscores the importance of emergency plans, which were required of all Maine schools after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“You never know what could happen, so you have to be prepared,” said first-year Principal Rhonda Poliquin, who is responsible for 227 pupils from kindergarten through fifth grade at the school nestled in the woods of western Maine.

Just a few years ago, some might have questioned the need for such emergency planning in a town like Lovell, population 974.

But school shootings across the country, and the Sept. 11 attacks, have forever changed the way schools large and small treat security.

The state Department of Education began requiring schools to enlist local police, fire and emergency preparedness officials in creating emergency response plans in 2002. The Sept. 11 attacks gave urgency to that process.

“There’s no question that recent events have certainly heightened everyone’s awareness and concern,” said David Stockford, policy director and team leader for special services with the state Department of Education in Augusta.

As part of the effort, Education Commissioner Susan Gendron and other officials met earlier this month with Art Cleaves, director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency, at the first gathering of a homeland security task force.

The incident at the Lovell school also demonstrated how an emergency plan is supposed to work.

The episode unfolded several hours earlier as FBI agents and Oxford County deputies arrived after 7 a.m. in nearby Sweden to arrest two brothers accused of robbing a bank earlier in the month in New Hampshire.

One of the brothers, Travis Blodgett, 26, fled into the woods, burglarized a home and allegedly stole a snowmobile that he ditched near the school.

It was 10:45 a.m. when he ran across the school’s empty playground and through the school’s front door. Dunlea heard the door open, looked up and saw no one. Then Trooper Andre Paradis rushed through the door in hot pursuit of Blodgett.

Dunlea twice used the loudspeaker system to warn teachers and staff. Faculty were well versed in the Level II emergency plan, but the plan itself had never been rehearsed for fear of frightening the children, Poliquin said.

The Level II plan called for teachers and staff to retrieve students from restrooms and clear the hallways, then lock their classroom doors, turn out the lights and put their pupils in safe place away from glass, she said.

“My daughter said they had to get under the desks and turn out the lights. She said it was a little scary, but they were safe,” said Carol Davis, whose 7-year-old daughter, Mariah, seemed none the worse for the wear a few days later.

Blodgett, who was unarmed, ran down the hall, then turned and went into the cafeteria. From there, he exited the building.

Law enforcement authorities were waiting, guns drawn. Blodgett was trapped. He tried to go back inside, but he was locked out.

Poliquin went to each classroom to explain what had happened and assure students that they were safe. Then teachers resumed instruction.

While school officials were happy that their emergency plan was a success, they acknowledged that there was some luck involved.

If the incident had occurred 10 minutes later, pupils would have been filing into the cafeteria.

Also, school Superintendent Gary MacDonald was upset that law enforcement authorities hadn’t warned them that someone was on the loose.

Maine State Police Lt. Col. John Dyer said law enforcement officials will review communications as they examine what went wrong and what went right with the operation led by the FBI and Oxford County deputies.

Parents, meanwhile, were pleased with their school.