Announcement about yesterday’s incident at ACHS:
School officials were made aware Thursday afternoon, March 2, of some graffiti and threatening messages on a girls’ restroom wall at Adair County High School. The graffiti contained a threat and satanic references. Considering the severe wording in the graffiti, school staff and School Resource Officer Kevin Atwood began a full investigation into the incident.
Through interviewing students and watching recorded video footage, Officer Atwood and school administrators were able to identify the student responsible for the graffiti, a 14-year-old female. Officer Atwood took the student into custody at approximately 10 p.m. Thursday night.
A school messenger call was made by interim Supt. Dr. Pam Stephens at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night to inform students and parents that administrators were aware of the situation and it was being investigated. Following the late night developments, Dr. Stephens waited until this morning to send out another school messenger call. The message was sent to let students and parents know that there had been a resolution to the incident.
“Student and staff safety is our top priority and we always take incidents of this nature extremely serious,” says Dr. Stephens. “With all the facts of the matter coming to light, the student who has been identified responsible will be held accountable based on our Board of Education Discipline Code.”
“We want to thank the students and staff as well as Officer Kevin Atwood and the Columbia City Police Department for the quick response and assistance during the investigation,” adds Director of Pupil Personnel Robbie Harmon. “Without student cooperation and the help of several parents we would not have been able to resolve this issue in such a timely manner.”
Through the spread of the pictures on social media, there were many rumors floating around about the incident, but please rest assured that all information is being taken seriously and will be investigated in the coming days.