Extra patrols to be at Middleton schools and Election Day polls, following costume controversy

Extra patrols to be at Middleton schools and Election Day polls, following costume controversy MIDDLETON â€" Middleton parents and chil...

Extra patrols to be at Middleton schools and Election Day polls, following costume controversy

MIDDLETON â€" Middleton parents and children held signs outside of the Middleton School District Office on Monday, calling for support for Middleton Heights Elementary teachers and staff.

This comes after pictures of some of the staff wearing what some are calling controversial costumes went viral.

On Monday, students started the week with 14 fewer staff members, after the school board placed them on administrative leave.

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The district chose not to release any new details about the case, but over the weekend, the school board announced that Middleton Heights Elementary students would begin their week with increased security and extra administrators.

“As part of the additional security that we've been doing, not only police officers, but extra staff at the school with the administration office escorting students from portable classrooms to the main building,” Middleton Police Chief Allen Takeuchi said.

The school board placed 14 staff members on administrative leave after they received national attention for what some called "insensitive" and "inappropriate" costumes.

“Due to the recent events, we have increased the security, not just at Heights Elementary but all of the buildings district-wide,” Takeuchi said.

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Officers patrolled outside the elementary school as a precautionary measure.

“It's hard to gauge what somebody would be doing, whether it's a threat coming in via email or social media,” Takeuchi said. “But, we take everything seriously as they come in because we don't want to discredit anything.”

Takeuchi could not reveal what those exact threats were.

“That, I can’t disclose right now because a lot of those emails coming into the school are being investigated by the school district, if it comes to a c riminal investigation then it gets forwarded to us,” Takeuchi said.

Middleton Heights is also a polling location for Tuesday’s election.

“We received a call from a Middleton School District trustee asking if we could move the polling place from that particular school and the answer to that is no,” Canyon County Clerk Chris Yamamoto said. “By state code, we can't make a change like that.”

There will be three polling stations in Middleton on Tuesday and there will be security at each of the buildings.

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