KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two Lawrence High School students were arrested earlier this week for their alleged role in a fire Monday morning in the girls’ locker room at the school.
On Tuesday, Lawrence School District Superintendent Dr. Jeanice Kerr Swift and Lawrence High School Principal Dr. Quentin Rials notified the high school community of the incident.
According to their letter, firefighters responded around 11:15 a.m. Monday on a report of smoke coming from the girls’ locker room.
Firefighters arrived and discovered the sprinkler system had already extinguished the fire. Investigators traced the origin of the fire back to a paper towel dispenser that extended to a combustible trash bin below.
Two students were arrested.
“While we cannot share details about individual students’ involvement, we want our community to know that both law enforcement and the district take these matters very seriously, and in addition to the appropriate criminal processes, we will be implementing disciplinary consequences in line with our policies,” the district said in the communication to families.
No injuries were reported.
The district also addressed community concern over the timeliness of information to families during Monday’s incident.
“We understand that during a crisis situation, families may be receiving real-time text messages from their students, or seeing unverified reports on social media, even before school officials are able to validate and distribute factual information,” the district said in its letter.
The district said it would utilize its ParentSquare service to issue alerts that would instantly be distributed to recipients.
“We will continue conversations with the Building Leadership Team, PTO, students, and staff on emergency management protocols and school communications, and district responsiveness to feedback from all families and staff members,” the district said in the letter.
—
If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
