TOPSHAM — The Mt. Ararat High School community is “feeling uneasy” after ammunition was discovered at the school, according to a letter sent to parents Thursday by Principal Donna Brunette.
Brunette acknowledges the concerns but doesn’t specify when, where or how the ammunition was found. She only notes they were of a small caliber. She declined to be more specific about the type of ammunition during an interview on Friday.
The ammunition was found by a student in a restroom on Monday, at which time parents were notified, she said.
According to the message, some ammunition was found in a men’s restroom in the high school Monday morning, and a single bullet was found in a different men’s restroom the previous Friday.
“Through various conversations and reports made by students, parents and staff, it is clear there are a lot people in our community feeling uneasy after hearing the report that ammunition (bullets) were found at Mt. Ararat High School,” her letter states.
“We have been talking with students through the week and our goal was to make sure that students knew that we heard that they were uneasy and ultimately we wanted to make sure that they talked to their parents and had the right supports that they needed in order to feel comfortable coming to school,” she said Friday.
Mt. Ararat High School serves students of Maine School Administrative District 75 from Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Harpswell and Topsham.
“At this point we do not know who brought the bullets into our school,” Brunette wrote.
Brunette said no crime was committed by bringing ammunition into the school, through school policy prohibits it.
State and federal law prohibit firearms at K-12 public schools, but bringing ammunition by itself to a school doesn’t appear to be explicitly prohibited.
“There are things that people do outside of school that they sometimes use a backpack for, so occasionally we are dealing with things a student wouldn’t normally bring to school and nor would we allow them to,” Brunette said. In those cases, “Ultimately we figure out what was the intent.”
Because the school doesn’t know who brought the ammunition into the school, the intent remains unknown.
The school administrators are working with School Resource Officer Randy Cook. “Please know that investigations focused on safety concerns involve interviews with numerous students and conducting searches as appropriate,” Brunette wrote.
“The unresolved concern makes us all feel unsettled,” she adds. “I wish I had answers for you all.”
With the matter unresolved, people are questioning the safety of the school’s annual field day today and homecoming dance on Saturday, the letter states. This week is school spirit week at the school, according to the school calendar.
“Given the horrendous reports of violence in schools and various venues that all of us have heard or read about, and some been directly impacted by, people are alarmed,” Brunette wrote.
The discovery of ammunition is not the first safety threat that the school district has dealt with over the last two years.
Topsham police investigated two complaints of threats of violence at the high school on Feb. 15, 2018, the day after 17 people were killed in a mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The next day police and SAD 75 officials investigated a bomb threat at Woodside Elementary School in Topsham. The school was evacuated but no bomb was found.
In March 2018, police arrested a 19-year-old for allegedly making a threat against the high school over social media.
Students are very aware of instances of school violence like the mass shooting in Parkland, Brunette said.
“It’s hard on the kids,” she said. “They shouldn’t have to worry about coming to school and we try to make Mt. Ararat feel like a safe place.”
She has requested an additional officer be present at both of the events and invites parents to attend to have an additional adult presence.
Brunette said students and parents are welcome to discuss concerns with school administration, but anyone with safety concerns that arise during the school day should contact local police.
She sent another message to parents Friday night, noting that some students didn’t feel comfortable attending Friday. Topsham police “were very present,” she wrote.
“I do need to share that around lunchtime a rumor surfaced that additional bullets had been found by administration,” Brunette wrote. “Please know that this is not true.”
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