Public Comments - 01/27/2026 Governing Board Meeting

Public Comment 1

Submitted by: Katy White

Live or Work in the District: No

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Very concerned about the lack of communication during the lockdown and after regarding the specifics of the threat. Feeling very unsafe at our school.

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Public Comment 2

Submitted by: Haley hemeyer

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: The communication between our school and parents seems to be greatly lacking. Example: rumors around our recent lockdown and safety concerns for our kids are going around without being addressed by the school. We did not receive word of an active lockdown til parents arrived at pickup and we are traumatized seeing police officers surrounding and on top of our school building. Us parents are fearful and the principal has dismissed our concerns!

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Public Comment 3

Submitted by: Moira Garcia

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: How can we feel safe sending our kids after the lockdown & all that followed w/ lack of communication & dismissing of valid concerns from parents? Why wasn’t it taken seriously when the person of interest made remarks of shooting up a class/school that his wife works at? It feels like it’s putting our kids at risk daily. To chalk it up to a joke feels like opening doors for a tragedy-under no circumstances is that ever a joke. PARK includes accountability. Show us the action that will be taken.

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Public Comment 4

Submitted by: Kyle Evans

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: 1. Why did it take so long to provide details on what happened? Response time to the community should not take several days, and only after countless calls and emails and pressure from parents to seek answers before Gilbert PD and school district finally agreed to share more. The delay caused an increased lack of confidence.

2. Why was the staff member involved in this not placed on paid leave while this played/is playing out? They should be taken care of while not having kids in the middle. _______________________________________________________________

Public Comment 5

Submitted by: Jenifer Peterson

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Requesting LOA for Sloan & not to renew contract for next year

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Public Comment 6

Submitted by: Steven Yena

Live or Work in the District: No

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Following last week’s lockdown at highland park elementary school what assessments or actions have been taken to ensure the individual who made these threats no longer poses a risk to the school moving forward? What lessons have been learned to improve safety at Highland Park. Lastly how are students tracked and accounted for during a lockdown?

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Public Comment 7

Submitted by: Tyler Brady

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: - Why were parents not notified until 1 hour and 25 minutes after the lockdown was initiated? Will communication improve going forward? - Why are you hiding what the actual threat to the school was? Protecting someone? - Will the staff member whose personal affairs triggered this be required to take a leave of absence? If not, what assurances do we have that this will not happen again if no arrests or charges were made?

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Public Comment 8

Submitted by: Danielle Friberg

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: 1. What options are there for the reassignment of Mrs. Slone to another school or GPS setting outside of Highland park? 2. What are the options if Mrs. Slone is to stay for us to add a security presence on campus to protect our children from her domestic situation that has grown into a school wide situation. 3. Can you confirm if/ what measures have been put into place to ensure the person of interest is not allowed on HPE campus, to ensure the safety of our children.

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Public Comment 9

Submitted by: Emily Martin

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: I appreciate the new Visitor Aware safety measures. I did want to share concern about communication during the recent lockdown. The first notice was an Instagram story, and the ~1‑hour delay before the email caused confusion among parents. Refining the protocol would help—an early “students are safe” message, clear instructions not to come to campus, a brief explanation, regular updates, and a final all‑clear.

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Public Comment 10

Submitted by: Lacey Alicie

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: The recent lockdown at HPE traumatized students and staff, yet there was no communication during or clear explanation after. Parents later learned that a police-confirmed threat had been made by someone affiliated with the school, yet we were repeatedly told there was “no threat.” This lack of transparency and accountability has broken trust. Student safety demands honest communication and responsible leadership, which Mr. Failla, Martin and McCord have failed to provide.

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Public Comment 11

Submitted by: Annie McAferty

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: With the proposed changes to Pioneer Elementary School, I am wondering what will happen to the money that was budgeted for the care and upkeep for Pioneer that won't get spent on the school upon closure? Will that money go back into the general budget? I request that the money that would have gone to Pioneer be distributed evenly between the three schools that will take the Pioneer students. Those schools will need more financial support due to the rise in enrollment.

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Public Comment 12

Submitted by: Melissa Dougherty

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Parents should be notified immediately when a school is placed in a real, active lockdown. It is extremely frightening to arrive at a school to pick up your child and be unable to enter the campus, surrounded by 10 or more police officers, with no information. A simple text message stating that the school is in an active lockdown, along with a brief description of the situation would make a significant difference. Timely communication would help reduce fear and unnecessary panic for families.

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Public Comment 13

Submitted by: Austin Heywood

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Do something logical and involve authorities to appease all the emotional and angry moms. Have the principal file a restraining order against the guy, give the teacher a paid leave of absence, don’t put the kids at risk and moms in a fury of angst and definitely don’t ruin that teachers career over some crazy ex Good luck - not easy situation but do something and move it to a jurisdiction that can actually play offense, you can’t do anything but play defense and limit downside risk

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Public Comment 14

Submitted by: Lindsay

Live or Work in the District: No

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: Who is being held responsible for the threat that made the lockdown? If there was not an actual threat why establish a lockdown? Someone needs to be held accountable and have consequences. Adults need to be held responsible for their actions also.

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Public Comment 15

Submitted by: Kallie Brown

Live or Work in the District: No

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: 

Lack of information shared with parents. Gilbert PD filling us in and Gilbert district having conflicting stories. Lies from district. Teacher on paid leave while personal issues are dealt with and matter is further investigated. Many kids, teachers and parents still feeling unsettled.

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Public Comment 16

Submitted by: Hillary Jarvey

Live or Work in the District: No

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: I am grateful to HPE faculty for locking our school down out of abundance of caution. Jason Failla and his staff did an outstanding job of keeping our kids safe. This is a teaching moment for us all. We need to have better safeguards in place to keep our children safe. They are the priority. Keeping a teacher employed at our school does cause anxiety among a lot of staff and parents at HPE. Staff members, students, and parents do not feel safe with her on campus at the present time.

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Public Comment 17

Submitted by: Addison Stebor

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: I’m disappointed in how the district handled the HPE lockdown. Families weren’t told what the threat actually said. I’m concerned a staff member connected to the individual remains on our campus. The event exposed serious safety gaps: front entry allows multiple adults at once, no second secured vestibule doors, and vulnerable/outdated portables. Reports that portables weren’t confirmed before “all accounted for” are alarming.

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Public Comment 18

Submitted by: Lisa Natywa

Live or Work in the District: Yes

Child(ren) attending a GPS school: Yes

Comment: It was unsettling as parents to hear that so much was “out of the hands” of our teachers, staff and even administrators. What was learned? What will be done differently? What plan is in place if god forbid something like this happens again? How will this information and plan be communicated to our community?