The Mascenic Regional School District secured their campuses on Wednesday morning, after a reported bank robbery in downtown New Ipswich.

According to posts on the Mascenic School District SAU Facebook page, at around 10 a.m., New Ipswich police requested district schools secure their campuses. Mascenic Superintendent Liz Pogorzelski said police originally notified staff at the Boynton Middle School, due to its proximity to the downtown, and requested they secure the building.

Principal Kevin Fondas reported the request to Pogorzelski, who contacted police to inquire whether they district should also secure Highbridge Hill Elementary School and Mascenic Regional High School. She was advised to do so.

“At that point, we didn’t know what was going on; we just knew something was happening that made police uncomfortable was occurring downtown,” Pogorzelski said.

The campuses were secured, and the district sent notices to parents.

A closed campus means that students do not leave the building and visitors are not allowed into the building, but classes continue as usual within the building. Pogorzelski said that meant that there was no outdoor recess or physical education classes, a planned walk for autism awareness was canceled and seniors were not allowed to leave campus for free periods. Pogorzelski said in secured campus scenarios, parents are still able to pick up their children if they wish, though they will be subject to heightened security measures.

“We had a lot of parent phone calls, asking if everything is OK,” said Pogorzelski, as about 40 parents contacted her office. “People really wanted to know what was going on, which, the challenge is, we don’t always have all the information yet.”

At about 10:30 a.m., police updated the district that there had been a bank robbery downtown, that the suspect had not been located and could still be in the vicinity and to continue the secured campus protocol. The district updated its communication with parents with the new information at 10:36 a.m.

Shortly after the second update, the secure campus status was lifted at about 11 a.m., after the district was notified by police that the area had been cleared.

“Everyone did great,” said Pogorzelski of student and staff response to the secured campus. “I think the most-important thing is that we are always going to act out of an abundance of caution, but everyone understands that we don’t make these calls without reason, and we’re always trying to do what’s best and keep kids safe.”

Activities for the remainder of the school day, including afternoon preschool, were held as usual.