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On Tuesday during the three-hour standoff after a man was reportedly stabbed on Garfield Avenue, some questions arose about notifications sent out to parents of students attending neighboring Hawthorne Elementary School.

Though police stated they did not think the students were in any danger, school district officials as a precaution placed the school in “secure” status — essentially a lockdown — in which doors were locked and no one could leave or enter the building, though classes otherwise continued as usual.

We applaud the school for taking the step to “secure” status and think this was a good decision.

The district stated it had sent out a notification via email and text message, informing caregivers of students at the school of the situation, only to find out after a story was posted on the Tribune’s website that some of the caregivers did not receive the message. While we are not sure how many people did not receive the message, we know of at least a handful of parents ourselves who were not notified.

While the district posted an update on its Facebook page apologizing that the communication did not reach some caregivers because of what they described as “technology issues,” we hope the district takes this issue seriously.

We cannot emphasize enough how important these notifications are, not only in keeping parents informed, but in establishing positive relationships with caregivers and the community.

We were lucky this situation was resolved without any impact on neighboring properties, but heaven forbid in today’s age we know that may not always be the case.

We suggest it also might not be a bad idea to consider sending out notifications in similar situations not only to the specific school’s caregivers, but to all the caregivers of students in the district to help squelch rumors and promote the truth.

Our children are our community’s most prized treasures.