Two unrelated fire alarm issues in Whittier Woods led to bell schedule changes this morning.

Before the first period bell rang, students were barred from entering Whittier Woods while a fire department truck pulled up to the building only to find out the fire alarm was pulled by a student, assistant principal Jerome Easton said. Students weren’t allowed to go into Whittier Woods while the administration tried to figure out what the problem was.

“They were telling people to get out and not to come in because they wanted to figure out what was happening,” junior Noah Abramowitz said.

Freshman Ava Chenok said that she and other students with first period in Whittier Woods had to wait outside until they were told they could go to class, prompting an announcement from principal Alan Goodwin that excused any students late to their class in Whittier Woods.

Later, with a few minutes left in third period, assistant principal Jerome Easton made an announcement requesting that all students ignore the bells and stay in their third period class until he came back on the announcements.

“The second [fire alarm problem of the day] was a problem with the mechanics of the system,” Easton said. “It was given a false reading that had to get repaired.”

Whittier Woods and Whitman have two separate alarm systems, and the Whittier Woods system was malfunctioning in third period. To make it easier to fix the problem, the administration decided to keep students in their classes, Easton said.

“We didn’t want extra bodies in the hallway, particularly going into Whittier Woods,” he said.

English teacher Danielle Fus said that while she understands administration was busy fixing the problem, she wished teachers had gotten more explanation of what happened.

“There was no direct communication to anyone on the staff about what happened, why it happened, and if it’s a problem that’s going to be resolved,” Fus said.