District, Town of Evans police are still investigating April incident

The Town of Evans Police and the Lake Shore High School administration are continuing to investigate an incident that occurred in April at the high school, in which questionable graffiti was found in a boys bathroom.

Officially, it is still an open investigation, though Superintendent James Prezpasniak was able to elaborate on the situation a bit.

What occurred is that a student overheard a couple of other students who were discussing some graffiti in a bathroom.

She just thought it sounded odd and reported it to a teacher, who then reported it to administration on April 16. The administration and the Evans Police Department got together and decided to implement emergency plans.

“We have what I’m going to call emergency plans for things of this nature and as a result of that plan we did have the high school building locked down on Monday evening,” Prezpasniak said. “The building was searched on Tuesday morning and a number of police agencies were in cooperation with the Evans Police Department. When students were let into the building following that, bags and backpacks were searched. School started on time and the day went on as normal without an incident and we are where we are today.”

The steps followed by the administration were built into the school’s response plan, even though the graffiti in question was not considered a threat.

“We did not consider the graffiti to be a threat to any one person, place or time. The graffiti in question was just unusual and we decided to seek the advice of the Evans Police Department and in cooperation we decided to put our plan into place. The high school administration has interviewed a number of students concerning the matter but have not identified anyone responsible for it as of yet.”

During times of elevated concern, the district enacts response plans and works with law enforcement agencies to preserve a safe educational environment.

The Evans Police Department will continue to investigate the graffiti and assist the district in any way necessary to preserve the safety of the students, staff and school community.

“Safety is our number one priority,” Przepasniak said. “As a school district we evaluate every situation on an individual basis with law enforcement. We have response plans in place and respond to all concerns regarding safety of our students, staff and school community.”

“Parents and school community members can assist their children, police, and school district by remaining calm in any future situations that may occur,” Evans Police Department Captain Charles Danzi said.