One of the most frightening things a parent can hear is their child’s school has been canceled or locked down due to a potential threat.

That was the case this past Friday, as a potential threat to the Ironton Elementary school necessitated that classes be canceled for the day.

This was the right decision as well as all Lawrence County schools correctly chose to put their respective schools on a precautionary lockdown that were in session.

While these incidents and decisions can be difficult for school districts and parents, each school district has a developed plan to keep our children safe.

At the same time, parents certainly have the right to know the current situation and be kept abreast of any changes to a given situation that may arise.

The school districts should always follow their safety plan while working to ensure all parents are kept up to date as frequently as possible.

Beginning Monday The Tribune will provide each school district in the county with an additional resource to get information to parents and the public.

This will be through one of the Tribune’s newer features, “Friends to Follow” located on the Tribune’s website at www.irontontribune.com. This feature allows posts from three major social media outlets to automatically post onto the Tribune’s home page. Those social media outlets include posts to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

We encourage each school district to make use of this resource as an additional avenue to get important information such as school closings or incidents like Friday’s out to the public.

Ultimately, the most important thing is the safety of our children and the events of this past Friday show the value and importance of the safety plan each school has in place while providing parents with information.