Dear Editor: I am a parent of a child at Alcovy High School. I read the article where Amber Pittman crime/education Reporter made the statement, "Newton County school system officials deny the school was ever in lockdown and that a Coke bottle that contained a liquid was thrown in the commons area of the school and the bottle cap did blow off."

 Well, I have a child that was in the commons area at the time of the Coke bottle incident, and she told me they did not have the school under lockdown. I, as a parent of a student at Alcovy High, I am very appreciative that I received the system message on my cell phone from Sherri Viniard informing me of the incident and that the school was not on lockdown. It is appalling to me that a reporter is that desperate to have a job that she has to criticize the school board who does let the parents know if their child is safe or not.

 With children having cell phones these days, they could easily call their parents and hype up the situation and the parents freak out thinking their child is in danger. Some parent cannot afford to take off work, some parents work in Atlanta, etc. At least there is a way for the school board to keep parents informed in the middle of a crisis or a non-crisis, whether it’s by school messenger on our phones or on the Newton County Web site.

 Before the newspapers criticize the school board, they need to realize if a child or school was in real danger, Newton County School System would let parents and the community be aware of it.

 My advice to Amber Pittman crime/education reporter is that she get her facts straight before you run with an article that is absolutely ridiculous.

Lori Dorn

Covington