Round Lake area schools closed Thursday after expelled student hits staff member, flees: officials

ROUND LAKE, Ill. (WLS) -- A north suburban school district issued an emergency school closure for all of its schools Thursday, after a student who had been expelled became a possible threat.

All 11 schools within the Round Lake Area Schools Community Unit School District #116 were temporarily closed Thursday due to "an ongoing safety incident in the community that involves one of our students," the superintendent said in a message.

"We apologize in advance for the relatively short notice of this information," it went on to say.

The Round Lake High School student who had been expelled assaulted a staff member and allegedly trespassed onto school property, school officials said.

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In an email to parents and families in the district, the superintendent said, "We are continuing to discuss plans related to a variety of events scheduled for the coming week, including Homecoming activities. The safety of our students and staff are top priority at RLAS-116 and we appreciate your patience and support as we work through this situation."

School officials previously said the incident was considered high-risk, so district officials will need to coordinate with local law enforcement.

School officials said problems began Tuesday night around 7:45 p.m.

That's when officers responded to a disturbance at the high school involving a student and a member of the school staff.

Authorities said it was after a Board of Education meeting ended that the student hit a staff member.

Witnesses said by the time police arrived, the expelled student had already run away.

Officers continued to look for the student that evening but couldn't find him.

The next day, when school officials learned the student may have trespassed on school property and attempted to enter the high school's operations service center where the school's buses are located, Round Lake High School students were brought back into the school.

The superintendent said in a message ahead of school Thursday "Given the fact that our school district is a unit-district and we have transportation routes throughout the entire community, we have made the decision to issue this Emergency School Closure for all schools."

Round Lake police said they eventually found the student at his home and took him into custody.

He was then taken to the Lake County Juvenile Center for intake and charges.

Officials said moving forward, the student in question will not be attending any schools in the district, saying "We anticipate having additional police presence on the high school campus set up for at least the next week of school. Our school safety staff will be briefed on safety procedures on campus going forward."

Classes are expected to resume Friday.