Marijuana causes LOCKDOWN at LOUISE GARLAND THOMAS High

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, June 18, 2023 – There was no gun at the Louise Garland Thomas High School, that’s the decisive statement from the Ministry of Education following a Friday (June 10th) afternoon lockdown that rightfully sent parents into a panic.

While thankfully there was no weapon as some residents had feared, Magnetic Media can confirm that there was a quantity of illegal drugs, namely marijuana, found in the possession of a student and police officers were called in to deal with the issue.

The Education Department of the Ministry of Education said in a press release on Monday June 12 that school authorities ‘received information of the likelihood of an occurrence that could endanger students and others on the compound’.

In response, as per established protocol, they activated the Critical Incident Management Plan, which in this case resulted in a lockdown.

Students were kept in and parents were kept out, pending police arrival as authorities worked to calm the situation. Some parents were panicked at the thought of not being able to get to their children but the Ministry says, “Allowing access to the compound before it was secured may have interfered with the standard protocols.”

The scene dissipated once Police arrived and students were allowed to go home. The quantity of marijuana is described as small and we can confirm that no one was taken into custody regarding the incident.