After lockdown, Norwich Adult Ed to amend emergency plans

Manhunt forced police, school officials to make decisions quickly

Norwich — Tuesday’s hourslong police manhunt and lockdown of much of Greeneville will prompt changes in emergency protocols for one facility caught in the action.

Adult Education classes, with about 50 students and 10 staff, were proceeding normally Tuesday evening when the school’s two supervisors got phone calls from friends asking if they were OK.

Cheryl Egan, coordinator of the English language program, and Karen Boluch, school facilitator and leadership team member, were puzzled. Callers told them that Greeneville was in lockdown as police swarmed the area with high-powered rifles searching for a suspect deemed armed and dangerous.

The adult education building at 191 Hickory St. was at the edge of the active search zone.

Police hadn’t realized the school had evening classes and didn’t notify school officials of the gunfire and foot chase that started about 6:30 in downtown and proceeded into Greeneville. The area from 10th Street to the junction of North Main Street and Boswell Avenue was cut off for nearly five hours as police searched for Brandon Uzialko, who was wanted in connection with a severe stabbing that took place on Saturday.

Uzialko was found dead after 11 p.m. near the intersection of Prospect and 13th streets.

Superintendent Abby Dolliver called the school as soon as she heard about the incident in the media, as did Adult Education Director Jodi Lefkowitz, who was visiting the program’s Stonington satellite site that evening. Neither was allowed to go to the school and thus directed the situation by phone throughout the evening.

Egan and Boluch were in constant contact with police, as instructions and plans shifted for about an hour. First, the school went into “hold mode,” with outer doors locked but hallways open. But when school officials realized some students left either to walk home or catch rides, the school switched to classroom lockdown; window shades were drawn and classroom doors closed.

Lefkowitz said English language classes end at 8 p.m., but other classes continue until 9 p.m. Lefkowitz doubted much classwork got done that evening.

With no resolution in sight, at 9 p.m., police called for a building evacuation, instructing staff to gather all occupants to one side door leading to the parking lot. All 60 people would be required to leave, but none would be allowed to walk home. Everyone had to turn right toward downtown.

“We have students who don’t speak English and don’t have cars and live in the area,” Lefkowitz said, “A lot of our (English language learner) students didn’t know what was going on.”

Numerous police officers, guns drawn, formed a perimeter around the departing students and staff. Other officers guided the school’s occupants to their cars. Everyone departed safely, Lefkowitz said. Staff and students drove the walkers home.

“Everybody handled themselves very well and were well grounded,” Lefkowitz said. “Police were totally out there guarding the safe exit of the building.”

The immediate lessons were obvious, school and police officials said. School administrators will make sure police know the evening class schedule at Adult Education, and police will notify Dolliver when active police incidents are taking place in the area.

A week earlier, Adult Education held lockdown drills for both daytime and evening classes, Lefkowitz said. School officials identified a few shortcomings in the practice, and she had planned to contact police to have an officer come to the school to help conduct another drill, providing outside perspective on the operation.

But Tuesday’s experience was different, Lefkowitz said. Except for fire drills, there have been no emergency evacuation drills with a security threat from outside.

School officials and police Chief Patrick Daley said the policy might need to be different when adults are involved instead of schoolchildren. Young students can be directed to stay inside the building, while adults sometimes leave when they wish, Lefkowitz said. Daley said police will work with the school to improve the emergency protocols.

“We were not aware there were Adult Ed night sessions,” Daley said. “We’ll work with them and the coordinator.”

“We have students who don’t speak English and don’t have cars and live in the area. A lot of our (English language learner) students didn’t know what was going on.” JODI LEFKOWITZ, ADULT EDUCATION DIRECTOR