District provides new information about security breach at Anderson High School

In the first few weeks of the 2023-2024 school year here in the Forest Hills School District,  the Superintendent and Board have made several critical decisions on short timetables that have left parents wondering:

• Is the Superintendent's poor decision-making a pattern
• Are the decisions evidence that the board and the Superintendent they chose distracted by an ideological agenda?
• Did the board make a poor selection with Superintendent Hook and does he have the qualifications to lead a district of this quality and size?

Irrespective of the reasons, the executive decision making in Forest Hills is putting students’ physical and psychological safety at risk.

On August 29th, 2023, a soft-lockdown was enacted at 7 of the district's 9 schools. In the first email sent to communicate the lockdown (full email here), Superintendent Hook stated only that "we located an unauthorized individual walking around the Anderson High School campus a short while ago" followed by his second email (available here) which stated, "After a thorough search of the area, it has been determined that the unknown individual is no longer on district property" both quotes seem to imply the man was outside the school and then somehow disappeared.

Hook's email from today (shown above) explains a more serious breach. He provides details explaining that a staff member discovered an adult male had entered Anderson High school through a propped-open side-door and found his way into the hallways during school hours. 

Several sources advised us a week ago following the Forest Hills Council meeting (days before the district communicated to the public) that Superintendent Hook had shared the details now provided in an email. We at AdvocateFHSD.org have been gathering information about the incident, and before publishing anything, we reached out to the district yesterday asking for any statement on the situation and submitting a PRR for the surveillance video. Our full email is here. 

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