District cites multiple deficiencies, particularly in communication

Deborah Thompson reads the district statement. The statement said that a lack of a search, the delay in identifying the substance as heroin, and a lack of communication with board members contributed to the district’s failing to handle the matter properly.

COATESVILLE – At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, the Coatesville Area School District acknowledged  failures in the way it handled the discovery of heroin at Caln Elementary on May 2.

“Our investigation revealed that there were multiple failures in several respects, which contributed to the accurate perception that the incident at Caln should have been handled better,” School Board Member Deborah Thompson read from the district’s statement.

The investigation revealed failures to search students and the building after the substance was found, failure to ensure full compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding with Caln Township Police, a failure to identify the substance as heroin, and a failure by administrators to communicate with the superintendent, district solicitor, and school board until nearly nine hours after the discovery as the shortcomings in the aftermath of the incident, the statement said.

Solicitor James Ellison would not comment on disciplinary actions for district personnel but said that it “is something we’re looking in to.”

Ellison said that after the discovery was made at 10:30 a.m., a conversation was held between school staff. The staff contacted district police, who arrived 20 to 30 minutes later, about an hour after the initial discovery. District police then contacted local police forces.

“I would say that between approximately 12 and 1 o’clock, all three police departments [Caln, Coatesville, and South Coatesville,] were notified,” he said.

According to the district’s statement, the substance was identified as heroin at 2:30 that afternoon.

However, Ellison was not notified of the incident until approximately 7:40 p.m. after a parent reported that her son gave a baggie to her, the statement said. Ellison then notified the entire school board and superintendent by 8 p.m. Every school board member demanded that parents be notified, and they sought an investigation as to why they were not informed in real time.

“If we were notified in real time … we would have immediately contacted the board, and the board would have provided input,” Ellison said after the statement was read.

Thompson said that the board was immediately concerned as to why they were not contacted sooner.

“We the board were very, very, I would say, angry,” she said. “We asked the solicitor to identify what the breakdowns were.”

The statement went on to say that throughout the weekend, May 3 and 4, school police provided “all information within our possession to local police and Chester County Detectives,” which led to a search warrant at the suspect’s home and subsequent arrest.

On Monday, May 5, Ellison met with school police and discussed a sweep to be completed by the Caln Police Department. Though board members said that they would prefer a sweep to be done before or after school to ease any concerns about police animals in the presence of students, they did authorize a full sweep to be done during school hours, including the retention of student bookbags. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Angelo Romaniello learned that  Caln Police believed the district did not want a sweep, and he was instructed to let them know they should proceed with an immediate and complete building sweep, the statement said.

Ellison said that he does not know why Caln Police did not sweep the building earlier or why there have been reports that he or the district initially refused Caln Police’s efforts to sweep the school. He said that the district’s Memorandum of Understanding with Caln Police dictates that in situations where drugs are reported in a school, police are obligated to take certain actions, including conducting a thorough investigation, showing up on site, and securing emergency medical personnel.

“Apparently, the Caln Township Police Chief was under the impression that I cancelled the search, but I never did any such thing,” Ellison said. “No law enforcement agency was ever denied entry into the school.”

Ellison said that he thought Caln Police would take action to search the school because of the Memorandum of Understanding. “I can’t answer why Caln Township didn’t send police officers to the school,” he said. “We were under the impression that Caln Township Police were involved. We didn’t realize that that presumption was an error until Monday.”

Ellison said that in addition to its investigation over the past week, the board will also be looking to possibly develop new district policies to handle similar situations in the future. Should they develop new policies, those policies will be implemented “with all due speed” and announced to the public, he said.

The board and Ellison have come under sharp attack for their handling of the drug discovery from Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, who continued his criticism on Wednesday. “This board and solicitor never miss a chance to make a bad situation even worse,” Hogan said in response to the board’s statement.  “They made some critical mistakes. They should apologize, accept responsibility, stop blaming other people, and promise never to put their own students in danger like this again.”

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