Friday, December 24, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Threats: ‘Safety of our students and our staff is our No. 1 priority’
Continued from Page A1
The fi rst incident alluded
to during the meeting took
place Dec. 6. Seaside High
School received information
from a student about mes-
sages delivered on social
media that indicated there
might be a threat to the
school. Classes at school
were canceled the follow-
ing day. Meanwhile, Sea-
side Police Department
investigated the communi-
cation and determined there
was “no credible, localized
threat,” according to a press
release.
In a separate, unrelated
incident Dec. 11, a Sea-
side middle school student
reported a potential threat of
violence against that school.
Roberts applauded the stu-
dent for having the cogni-
zance to screenshot the mes-
sage, which came through
during an Instagram Live
session, and report it to the
school the following day.
After investigation, the
police department identi-
fi ed the person behind the
account. They, along with
Roberts, made contact Dec.
12 with the child who made
the threat during the Insta-
gram Live session.
The student could face
criminal charges and dis-
ciplinary action from the
school. The student is not
allowed on campus pending
continued investigation and
could be expelled.
Another public statement
from the school district, dis-
tributed Dec. 16, warned of
a TikTok trend pertaining to
nationwide school shootings
and bomb threats that were
supposedly planned to take
place Dec. 17.
The statement, which said
there were no known threats
against Seaside schools at
the time, promised to prose-
cute any incidents “to the full
extent of the law.”
“The safety of our stu-
dents and our staff is our No.
1 priority, and we take each
and every threat seriously,”
Superintendent Susan Pen-
rod said during the school
board
meeting.
“Shar-
ing information is the best
way for us to fi nd out when
a potential threat is being
made, and I thank our stu-
dents for their open com-
munication in making these
reports.”
Roberts shared a similar
sentiment.
“Our best defense will
always be, unequivocally,
our students feeling com-
fortable sharing information
with adults that they trust,
with their friends that they
trust, with parents that they
trust, and, in turn, reporting it
to us so we can take action,”
he said. “It may be intended
to be a joke, but the amount
of time, the amount of fear
it instills in people, is not a
joke to anybody.”
‘OUR BEST DEFENSE WILL ALWAYS
BE, UNEQUIVOCALLY, OUR
STUDENTS FEELING COMFORTABLE
SHARING INFORMATION WITH
ADULTS THAT THEY TRUST, WITH
THEIR FRIENDS THAT THEY TRUST,
WITH PARENTS THAT THEY TRUST,
AND, IN TURN, REPORTING IT TO US
SO WE CAN TAKE ACTION. IT MAY BE
INTENDED TO BE A JOKE, BUT THE
AMOUNT OF TIME, THE AMOUNT OF
FEAR IT INSTILLS IN PEOPLE, IS NOT
A JOKE TO ANYBODY.’
Principal Jeff Roberts
‘It’s a Tragedy’
Additionally, Roberts said,
the school is taking measures
“behind the scenes” to edu-
cate students on the gravity of
these threats, the seriousness
of the consequences, and the
safety measures in place, all
while empowering them “to
be protectors of each other.”
“It’s disappointing that we
have to have these ongoing
conversations,” he said. “It’s
disappointing that we have to
consider safety protocols that
would involve active shooters.
It’s a tragedy that that is what
we have to concern ourselves
with as an academic institu-
tion, but it is today’s reality.”
He reassured the board
and the public that the school
is doing due diligence to
not only respond to the inci-
dents, but be proactive with a
coordinated eff ort to protect
students.
“Oftentimes, when things
are reported to us, not every-
one sees the work that’s going
on behind the scenes to triage
and solve situations,” he said.
“I can assure you that things
are always being done about
it.”
Jeremy Catt, assistant
principal at Pacifi c Ridge
Elementary School, said they
also are broaching these top-
ics with elementary students.
“We have to start young
about what it looks like to
be a bystander versus an
upstander,” Catt said. “A
bystander is going to stand by
and let things happen and an
upstander is going to address
it and say, ‘No, I’m not doing
that,’ ‘I don’t want to see
that,’ ‘I don’t want to be a part
of that.’ These are conversa-
tions we’re having with 9-,
10- and 11-year-olds around
digital literacy.”
Families as partners
Students are not the only
ones who need help under-
standing the ever-evolving
world of technology. Roberts
said they are exploring how
to assist parents and guard-
ians and give them resources
to have hard conversations
with their students and stay
aware of what’s going on in
their digital lives.
“It extends beyond threats
and those types of things,” he
said. “We are seeing alarm-
ing rates of hateful speech, of
kids mistreating each other,
pornographic material that is
being brought into our doors.
We can take some measures,
but we cannot holistically be
responsible for those types
of things that are happen-
ing in our students’ lives and
being the sole people that are
expected to solve the issue.
… It has to be a partnership.”
Board member Sondra
Gomez acknowledged the
situation is “a tough one,”
and that it can be diffi cult as
a parent to set and enforce
rules around technology. She
expressed interest in seeing
what resources or assistance
might be made available to
parents.
With the measures in
place to prevent and prepare
for a threat, Roberts assured
the board that Seaside School
District is “a safe place,” one
where he feels comfortable
sending his own daughter.
“I would not put the per-
son I love the most in a situ-
ation that was dangerous, and
I feel that way for every other
student,” he said. “There are
tons of people that love your
children and care about them
desperately, unconditionally,
and we’ll continue to work
toward a day when that is not
a worry of ours.”
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E
RIL Y’
S
Last Monday, the sher-
iff ’s offi ce responded to a
request for a welfare check
at Goin’s home on Highway
26 near milepost 6, where
Goin was last known to be.
His vehicles were not
missing, Sheriff Matt Phil-
lips said.
While Goin is known to
have fi rearms, there is no
indication he was suicidal,
Phillips said, and no indica-
tion that he wanted to hurt
anyone.
The investigation evolved
into a missing person’s
case and the sheriff ’s offi ce
launched search and res-
cue operations. The search
expanded to the adjoining
woodlands and neighboring
properties.
Last Thursday and Friday,
searchers, including sher-
iff ’s offi ce staff , volunteers,
fi refi ghters and National
Guard members searched
for any sign of Goin. They
were joined by three trained
canine teams.
“We’re still going to be
trying to fi gure out what’s
going on, checking any leads
that we might get in,” Scott
said. “Sightings, things that
people call in. We’re still
going to continue to check
those things out.”
Family members are ask-
ing the public for assistance
in locating Goin.
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U.S. Army
Oregon Army National Guardsman Capt. Evan Goin (right) from Headquarters Company, 2nd
Battalion, 162nd Infantry and the Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Brunk Conley
(right) the senior enlisted adviser to the director of the Army National Guard, at North Fort
Hood, Texas, on June 29, 2014.
Rhea Goin, who was with
Evan Goin for fi ve years,
described him as last seen
wearing a black T-shirt,
pants or shorts and casual
shoes. Evan Goin, 44, is 5
feet 7 inches tall and weighs
about 170 pounds. The sup-
ply specialist at Camp Rilea
is an active hiker and is
physically fi t. He may have a
very slight limp due to knee
surgery in the spring.
He is the sole surviving
parent of two of his children,
she said. He has four chil-
dren, 6, 10, 16 and 20. The
mother of the 6-year-old and
10-year-old lives locally.
The 16-year-old lives full
time with him and he has
shared custody with the
younger girls’ mother.
“This isn’t normal,” Rhea
Goin said. “This has never
ever, ever happened before.
He would never leave his
children and not come back.
His kids are his absolute
world. This is so far beyond
the norm. It’s just absolutely
mind-boggling.”
She said that more than
100 people joined the
search last Thursday, includ-
ing more than 50 National
Guard members.
“They told us that they
covered just over two days
worth of ground in that one
day, between 10 a.m. and
3 p.m.,” she said.
More volunteers went out
Sunday.
“These are the same vol-
unteers that showed up on
their own time that are peo-
ple that he serves with,
or has served with in the
National Guard,” she said.
“He’s very loved. He’s very
respected. Anybody that
thinks that they may have
seen him, if they know any-
thing, if they heard from him
— even if they talked to him
in the days leading up to it
and they haven’t been con-
tacted — we just want to
fi nd him.”
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