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In the days after reports of an unidentified man being spotted at Lydiksen Elementary School on Saturday, district personnel told the Weekly they were able to confirm that he was actually an authorized contractor who works for a pest control company.
The individual, who was contracted by the Pleasanton Unified School District, was scheduled to work that Saturday, completed his assigned task and left the campus before Pleasanton police officers arrived in response to a call of an unknown person on the campus, PUSD director of communications Patrick Gannon told the Weekly on Tuesday.
According to Pleasanton Police Department Sgt. Marty Billdt, officers responded to a call at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday from two Lydiksen staff members who reported “seeing the male adult enter the Kids Club building.”
“Officers checked the entire campus and were unable to locate him. All of the campus buildings were secure with no signs of a break-in,” Billdt told the Weekly.
Lydiksen vice principal Jennifer McCullough had said in an email message she sent out to the school community on Sunday afternoon that PPD were called because the school could not immediately identify the person.
McCullough further stated in her message that she had gone back to the school, along with a PPD sergeant and district office staff, on Sunday in order to further search the school and ensure it would be safe for students’ return on Monday.
But on Tuesday, Gannon said that after gathering more information, it was determined that the man was in fact supposed to be there.
“We were able to identify this individual as a PUSD contractor who works for a pest control management company,” Gannon said. “This contractor was scheduled to work on Saturday, Oct. 22. The pest control contractor completed his assigned task and left campus before the police arrived.”
Billdt was also separately able to confirm that the day before, two federal agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had visited the school for unknown reasons on Friday.
McCullough mentioned in her community email on Sunday that she contacted PPD and was able to confirm that the two were in fact federal agents and that the visit was “not due to any impending danger to staff or students.”
While it is still not clear what the two agents were doing at the school or what specific DHS division they were from, Billdt said that a school resource officer was able to verify that the agents were in fact from the DHS.
“I don’t have any details on the two agents that visited other than they were verified by our school resource officer,” Billdt said.
Communication shortcomings seem to be causing a lot of trouble these days. If a simple memo had been sent to teachers and staff that pest control work was scheduled for the weekend, a lot of time and worry might have been saved.
If DHS had notified local law enforcement, again, a memo to the principal’s office could have avoided a lot of worry.
I remember during the Cuban missile crisis. October 1962.
At the height of the crisis, an Air Force pilot took off airborne off the Alaskan coast, he was shot down by the Russians.
John F. Kennedy in the white house said. “There is always some —— that does not get the word.’