Quick Take
Aptos High School students and staff sheltered in place Tuesday afternoon after a parent spotted a mountain lion on the baseball field.
Aptos High School had its students and staff shelter in place for about 30 minutes on Tuesday afternoon after a mountain lion was spotted on the school’s baseball field.
Principal Alison Hanks-Sloan said a parent first saw the animal and called school officials to alert them. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office came to check the campus, and the shelter-in-place order was lifted around 1:30 p.m., about 30 minutes after it began. The mountain lion had left the field and trekked down one of the dirt paths heading toward Freedom Boulevard.
It was a first for Hanks-Sloan, who joined the school as principal in July 2022 and was surprised to see a mountain lion right in the middle of a school day: “This is only Year 2 for me, so I haven’t had this happen yet,” she said. “I’ve been told of sightings in the past, but usually only in the morning and at night.”
However, Hanks-Sloan said a counselor working at the school used to be a student there and laughed about how often they used to shelter in place because of mountain lions in the vicinity.
At least now, Hanks-Sloan said she will be better prepared for the next sighting: “It all went well, and now we know the drill!”
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