Clovis West and Fort Washington Elementary are in Shelter in Place.
The following messages have been sent to the Fort Washington Elementary & Clovis West High communities. Updates will be provided.
Clovis West Families:
Clovis West High School is currently on a Shelter in Place with students inside classrooms while law enforcement responds to a suspicious phone call received by local law enforcement.
While this call had hallmarks of similar, non-credible calls received by law enforcement in the past, we are working from an abundance of caution to follow all of our school safety procedures.
Students returned to classrooms before the end of our fifth period lunch and teachers will continue with slightly modified instructional plans.
We are coordinating with local law enforcement out of an abundance of caution to ensure that no credible threat exists to our campus, and once law enforcement has completed their work on our campus, we will release students to normal operations while keeping our community updated throughout.
Thank you for your understanding as we work with our law enforcement partners to ensure our students’ safety.
Fort Washington Families:
Today at approximately 1:05 p.m. our school was placed on a Shelter in Place.
This action was taken after our neighboring school, Clovis West High, was placed on a Shelter in Place as law enforcement responded to a suspicious phone call received by Fresno Police Department and reported to Clovis West Administration.
We will remain in a Shelter in Place, where students continue with instruction but do not go outdoors, until our neighboring school receives an all clear.
At Fort Washington, students had completed lunch and our fifth and sixth grade students returned from the playground to classrooms about 10 minutes earlier than scheduled.
This action is taken out of caution and is NOT the result of a direct threat to our campus, but to allow law enforcement to freely access the neighborhood around our school.
CLEARED UPDATE – 1:42 p.m.
The Shelter in Place has been cleared at both Clovis West and Fort Washington. It was cleared after an air and ground search determined there was no credible threat. Police will continue to have a presence on campuses for the remainder of the school day.
Patti J. Lippert
Clovis Unified School District
Communications Coordinator
Office of the Superintendent