Students sat in their fifth hour classes on a seemingly normal day, some of them may have noticed police cars parked near the front entrance to Riverside Brookfield High School when leaving lunch, but they probably thought nothing of it. Suddenly, a voice comes over the intercom. Dr. Hector Freytas, RB’s new principal, identifies himself. Freytas stated that in the spirit of transparency, he sent an email to all students and parents/guardians explaining why police were present outside of the school. 

The email sent by Freytas stated that there had been a “package outside the building with unknown origin.” This led school officials to contact police. Riverside police investigated the package on school grounds and determined that it posed no threat to students or faculty. 

Freytas plans to continue being transparent with students about events such as the mysterious package on Thursday so students do not have to hear about such events through rumors. Freytas got this idea from a survey that students filled out late last year. He said that he had learned that students wanted to be made aware of situations like the package directly from the administration.

“Last year there were a few incidents where parents and teachers knew but students did not know. Students are a part of the community, so they should know as much as they can as soon as they can,” Freytas said.

Freytas believes that given recent events in schools throughout America, nothing that poses even the slightest threat to students can be ignored. 

“In this day and age, we can never take anything too lightly. Who knows what could have been in that package. It could have been something harmful, it could have been nothing at all,” Freytas said.

Freytas wants to continue to be communicative with all members of the community throughout his time as principal. He strives to inform students within 24 hours of any important incident.

“I want to be transparent, I want to communicate well with all the students, and I want to communicate as much as I can,” Freytas said.