Sheriff’s Office, Ferndale schools issue statement on SWAT team ‘miscommunication’
The Ferndale School District and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office issued a joint statement Monday evening following concerns over Whatcom County’s Specialized Weapons and Tactics team’s training on a school bus on Ferndale School District property, calling the incident a “miscommunication.”
The statement came after a TikTok video posted Friday showed SWAT team members doing a training exercise June 11 on Ferndale High School property during the school day. The video prompted concerns from the community, particularly among parents of students.
The training was approved by a district employee who was not authorized to do so, according to the joint statement, and they did not follow the district’s established facilities use protocols. Superintendent Kristi Dominguez said in an email to parents Friday that “had she received the SWAT training request, she would not have authorized it to happen during a school day.”
She said it was “not uncommon” for first responders to use district facilities for training, according to the statement, but they typically occur outside of school hours.
Dominguez and Whatcom County Sheriff Donnell “Tank” Tanksley discussed the miscommunication over the weekend and “laid the groundwork” for future facility request protocols. They both emphasized the importance of training exercises like this for first responders.
“We apologize for the concern this caused and are both equally committed to moving forward with the needs of our community remaining a priority,” the joint statement said.
Representatives from Ferndale School District and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office will meet again next week to create a new facility request process, “ensuring (their) commitment to community transparency remains intact.”
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 2:33 PM.