THE BRIGHT SIDE

 

The potential for violence at school events.
Local schools were put on soft lockdown last week. In Wisconsin, public and private schools are required to run at least one annual drill for responding to a “school violence event,” such as an intruder or bomb threat. The requirement, passed by state lawmakers in 2018, doesn’t specify a certain type of drill. The State Department of Justice suggests a drill could include a lockdown procedure for an active shooter situation, or reunification of students and families after an event. Also under Wisconsin law, schools must produce annual evaluations of how their drills went and share these with the state DOJ, along with a school safety plan and blueprints of every building. Additionally, all school employees in Wisconsin must receive training about mandatory reporting of school violence threats every five years.

A lot of that was put to use on September 11th when multiple school districts received threats of violence. In Elkhorn, police said they received word of a possible threat to schools from the Wauwatosa Police Department. The Elkhorn Area School District placed schools on lockdown while police provided additional patrols. Information was not passed on to the parents, teachers, and staff until an all-clear was given but that was necessary so as not to interfere with the investigation. After investigating and with the extra patrols the lockdown was lifted a few hours later. The threat was later deemed to be not credible but is still being investigated. The person and source of the threat is unknown at this time. Delavan had two individuals who would not identify themselves trying to enter a school. They were turned away and thankfully nothing else came of the situation. These drills are extremely important and necessary to keep our children and school staff safe. We are fortunate that our local school districts take this seriously and have an amazing staff.

If you see this petition, it’s all about the YMCA trying to buy part of Hillmoor.

“We, the undersigned, being tax-paying residents of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, sign this petition to object to Mayor Todd Krause and the members of the Geneva City Council selling, leasing, or transferring ownership of any or all of the 200-acre city-owned Hillmoor property to any entity.  The citizens spoke when they supported the purchase and preservation of the property.  The citizens did not intend for any subsequent administration to propose to sell it less than two years later! We believe the Hillmoor property is the most valuable asset that the city owns and should be retained as open lands for future generations to enjoy.  The city council approved a committee that was charged with the task of reviewing options for the land, based on community input meetings in January of 2023, exploring the feasibility of that input, and reporting the findings to the council.  A mission statement was drawn and was unanimously approved by the city council on August 13, 2023, as follows: “We envision Hillmoor as a cherished place where we enrich our lives by connecting with nature, ourselves, and others. We, as taxpayers, say ‘no’ to the sales, lease, or transfer of any or all of the Hillmoor property.” 

Editor’s note: Todd Krause has not indicated in any means that he is in favor of selling any of the property while leasing it remains impossible due to legal agreements.  The city council has not considered any proposal to sell any of the property either.

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