Are Any of You All Experiencing Many School closings...due to Threats?

There have been a few schools around here and one of my coworkers said she may keep her kids home tomorrow because of direct threats on the school her kids go to.

I kind of have mixed feelings about this. On one hand it is only one day of school to error on the side of caution. On the other hand how many of these threats are made by kids trying to extend their Christmas holiday.....

.....and come on here and ask annoying questions. :p

Even if its kids making the threats, I believe they're still considered "terroristic threates" and are punished as such. Schools have to respond until it can be determined to be a prank. There are threats all the time and are usually pranks, but I agree with Jo that its probably a lot of kids trying to extend their holiday than a true threat.

I heard that the school in Genessee county are closing because if several worries about the "end of the world" tomorrow...and there are some students that (in my opinion) aren't quite right in the head and have been overheard saying things like "the world's going to end anyway....let's just...."

It's insane!!! and the way the rest of the world plays on this whole mayan calendar end of the world is asinine.

saw something funny on facebook though....."calm down people, if the Mayans were any good at predicting the future, there would still be Mayans" haha

I don't care how old the kids are, if they make a threat, they need to have their wits scared out of them. They need to have the police called and maybe even cuffed, in addition to whatever the school procedure is. It's so not funny. The parents should be on board as well - if they do a "oh, they were just kidding, no harm done" thing, I hope they get fined.

I know down here not only are the schools suspending the kids who make any threats (or even joke about making threats) but if a threat is made, then the police and FBI are getting involved and there is the potential of federal prosecution.

I'm sure it's the same all over the US, but I don't know for sure.

My kids know what is going on to an extent. They heard what happened in school the day it happened. (My older three did. Youngest didn't.) They all knew by the day after. They've all known about the silliness of the Mayan calendar for a while, and in this house we believe it is just that, silliness. We're making plans for Saturday (TransSiberian Orchestra!!) and there are presents under the tree! I also have a ton of Christmas orders for the beginning of next week, so we're not at all worried about tomorrow. If my kids are, then they haven't shown any signs of it.

We have been on high threat alert since last thursday. A boy in H.S. said he was going to get revenge because he was bullied so much, and the school didn't do anything to protect him.

The police have been heavy inside the schools. I know a lot of parents that are keeping their kids home. Thank goodness my kids are young and go to a small Christian school.

Personally, if my kids school was going thru any of this nonsense with having to take extra precautions, I would keep my kids home.

My daughters school got threats, the superintendent put out a message as that the schools are not closing for Friday but they will have the police and extra security today at school. They believe and so do I that kids are trying to get extra days off for the holidays. I also am not worried because with all the school shootings there has never been warnings so I really don't think anything will happen. I have a 9 year old and 5 year old. The 9 yo knows what is going on, but not my 5 yo

Nope not at the schools. The Austin Police Force has been keeping heavy watches over all of the schools and had issued reminders that it is a Federal Offense to even prank a bomb threat..

But there was a a sighting of guys, in black carrying guns into a mall earlier this week

My kids are already out of school for Winter Break over here in The Pacific Northwest!

Other than a teacher bringing a gun to work at a Montessori school yesterday (idiot), only rumors here in Minnesota!

Our schools have not closed, but I just heard on the news that schools in a nearby town are closed tomorrow due to threats.

So far no, but I remember when my daughter was in high school (fall 2002 - spring 2006), they got bomb threats all the time. The school handled it by locking down the school and searching, nothing was ever found.

I never understood that, someone may be about to blow up the school so we will keep everyone locked in so they can all die together!!??!!

The Mall near my house is the biggest Mall in Wisconsin and so far I have never heard of any threats about the Mall. I worked at 2 different stores there and my daughter works at the IHOP that is on Mall property.

Nope. Extra cops have been at the start/end of the school day and almost all the HSs already have a police presence on a regular day. Nothing has been threatened or closed. There are policies in place to 1. handle a bomb threat and 2. deal with the people that make them, if it is known. Last year SD had a bomb threat in her school and it turned out someone let off some smoke bombs in a hallway and all procedures were followed.

My kids are too young to be in school, but I think if they know who is making these threats, that it should be treated like the real deal, and that child should immediately go into police custody. I'll bet it doesn't happen so often when that's the case.

I may be a bit late in answering this, but we got a phone call late last night, around 10pm, telling us that my son's high school would be closed today.

Well, I'd been waiting for his senior portraits to come in before Christmas and the school called this morning saying the photos were in and they needed to be picked up by 10:30am. I sent my son to get them. He's 17.
Little did I know that the reason the school was closed was due to a threat that was made. My son said that every police officer in the city was at the high school.

I don't have any more information than that, but my son is a Captain in the law enforcement cadet program so I'm sure he'll hear more about it through those lines.

This threat was obviously taken very seriously. As it should have been. I hope the person(s) who made the threat will be dealt with accordingly.

I'm in CT about 40 miles from Sandy Hook. My daughters told me today that there are lots of threats being phoned into the school during the past 2 days and over 20 kids have been suspended. I don't know if this is an exageration or not, but the high school accross town made the news about the threats.

Several of my daughters' friends are staying home from school tomorrow. There's a big winter celebration assembly scheduled. There have been talks about canceling it because the entire student body would be in the gym at the same time.

Around here winter break starts tomorrow and schools are open today.
Some people are taking off early for vacation.
Or they are taking emotional mental health days (calling in sick).
If a student tries to call in a prank about a threat to the school (bomb or otherwise) they are suspended.
As for Mayan end of the world - heck, we've still got people waiting for the rapture and that's 2 or so years over due.

My son said that students and teachers are hearing rumors of students planning a shooting at the school tomorrow. They are also hearing the same thing planned at a school across town. The teachers are telling the students that they don't mind if they stay home tomorrow because of the rumors. I teach high school in a nearby district and have friends at my son's school. They are taking the rumors seriously, and have called in extra security.

We hear rumors at our school from time to time, and I had two of my students bring guns on campus last year (They didn't shoot the guns, and they were both arrested). In the past, whenever I hear about these rumors, I ignore them for the most part. I do keep my classroom door locked, and keep my eyes opened, but other than that, I go about my day teaching, and I would still send my kids to school if the rumors were at their schools.

However, with all of the craziness of some people thinking tomorrow is the end of the world, and possible copycats of the Connecticut tragedy, I don't know what to do. Should I send my son to school tomorrow, or not? He doesn't have any tests or quizzes. I'm really on the fence.

Sorry to answer your question with a question.

Got an email from our superintendent today, here's what it said:

____@____.com
9:04 AM (6 hours ago)

to me
theresa,

As you may have seen in the media, there are rumors throughout school districts in the Capital District regarding "doomsday" actions and other potential threats of violence against schools. Please be reassured that we have and always will treat any rumor very seriously, and fully investigate any matter with our partners in law enforcement that can potentially threaten our students and staff. Please also be reassured that no credible threat or danger exists related to Ballston Spa, and we will continue to diligently monitor social media and fully investigate any matter that could potentially be related to our District.

As a reminder, our partners in law enforcement are always in our schools, whether it is the State Troopers, Sheriff’s Office or Village Police. We have always openly collaborated with them on school safety, including teen driver safety, Stranger Danger/safety to and from school, drug and alcohol prevention, supporting emergency drills and a variety of other programs. Their presence on our campus and in our schools is routine practice, and we continue to welcome their partnership.

The tragedy of last week has increased sensitivity throughout the school community regarding the presence of law enforcement at our facilities. Please view their presence as proactive and supportive, as it has been for many years. If there was a school emergency, it would be communicated immediately to our school community. We are fortunate to have such a strong relationship with our local authorities, and we continue to appreciate their support and commitment.

Our message to students continues to be that school is a safe place with caring adults who first and foremost protect their safety. I ask that you continue to reinforce this message with us at home so we can work together to dispel rumors and hearsay.

As a reminder, you can also follow me on Twitter @BSpaSupt for the most current school related information, especially as we approach the snowy season.

Thank you
______________________________________________

Like someone else mentioned, we're expecting a little snow tonight as well. I've got a feeling we might get a snow day even if it's just an inch.

This is fine with me, but my daughter, a sophomore, is freaking out because she has three tests tomorrow that she's ready for. She doesn't want to have to take them 2 weeks from now after break.

:)

Heavy police protection today, but with our officers who are usually on campus.

I was actually pleased to see MI closing schools in an effort to keep everyone safe. Our district here did not do that. They didn't communicate until last night that the threat wasn't credible. By that time, we had already decided to keep our girls at home and host our own holiday party. We had a total of 7 kids and we baked and decorated cookies from scratch. My girls got to see their friends from our old neighborhood and totally forgot about what was going on at their schools today.