Waterford — Mindy Stone says it's always petrifying when your child says he spent a portion of class hiding inside a closet.

"But it's very well structured," Stone said of routine lockdown and other drills her children experience at Waterford schools.

Stone and about two dozen parents, educators and officials gathered at Great Neck Elementary School on Tuesday night for the first of five school safety forums led by administrators and police.

Superintendent Tom Giard said the sessions — one at each of the district's schools this month — stemmed from conversations with administrators and police Chief Brett Mahoney following the Feb. 14 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where a gunman killed 14 students and three staff. Nineteen-year-old Nikolas Cruz has been charged.

Giard and Mahoney released a joint statement after the shooting, reassuring parents that "we're doing everything we can locally" and that safety "is a collaborative effort — the home, the school district and police." But Giard and Mahoney decided open forums for parents could be valuable.

"They hear terms like 'lockdown,' 'shelter in place.' They hear about the training and drills that we do," Giard said. "But do parents really understand what they entail and what the response would be in an actual emergency?"

With a local incident fresh in their minds at Clark Lane Middle School — where someone found one round of ammunition in a classroom on March 27 — parents raised questions about communication and strategies to avoid confusion and the spread of misinformation during emergencies.

Stone said her son, a Clark Lane student, "never felt unsafe" during the March 27 incident, which Mahoney said is still under investigation. She added that the district's email notifications "were great. I knew what they were doing. I knew it was OK."

But she and other parents called for clearer communication from officials on a range of issues, including how student interviews are conducted in the presence of police; the timing of texts and emails; and expectations of staff, police, parents and students alike during emergencies.

Giard noted administrators received "quite a bit of parent feedback" on the districtwide emails notifying parents of the Clark Lane situation. Some parents couldn't check personal emails at work; others found school emails filtered out as spam.

Giard said the district implemented a new option in response to the situation: parents can now receive a text message directing them to "check their email for an important message from the superintendent." Email subject lines will contain more detail, making it less likely for parents to ignore the email, Giard said.

"We don't want conflicting messages or confusion," he said.

Giard, Mahoney and Great Neck Principal Billie Shea advised parents to retweet and share Facebook posts by police, but to avoid speculation.

Officials said a text ensuring your child is safe is acceptable, but parents should understand the student may need to silence or turn off their phone. In an emergency, police will cordon off the grounds and roads near the school, and parents must reunite with students at separate designated sites.

"These incidents will take on a life of their own," Mahoney said, citing speculation on social media. "We'll do our best to provide you with regular updates. But the safety of children and staff is paramount."

Each school has a safety plan to address emergencies ranging from active shooter situations to natural disasters. Every school must conduct 10 fire drills per year; three of them could be lockdown drills, Giard said. Administrators and staff log events and times as drills progress before debriefing staff and students on how they went and ways to improve. The schools then report on the drills to the state.

Mahoney explained to parents that each officer receives dozens of hours of training that include "an entire day dedicated to an active shooter situation." Connecticut officers are trained to enter buildings in such situations, Mahoney said — unlike a school resource officer in Parkland who "had not gone through an updated training."

Mahoney encouraged parents to call police if they have any concerns or suspicions related to school safety.

"If something sticks in your head or doesn't seem right, call us," he said.

Parents and students also can use the anonymous tip feature on the Waterford police app, Mahoney said.

School safety sessions are scheduled Wednesday, May 2, at Quaker Hill Elementary; Monday, May 7, at Clark Lane Middle School; Tuesday, May 15, at Oswegatchie Elementary; and Tuesday, May 22, at Waterford High School. All forums will start at 6 p.m.

b.kail@theday.com