SJSD urges students to avoid sharing any online threats

By Jazmine Knight

St. Joseph School District officials spoke about the severity of social media threats and their protocols to monitor online incidents after posts likely involving Kansas City schools surfaced.

Postings about school violence have been circulating in the area, and it’s believed they originated in the Kansas City area, SJSD leaders said in a communication sent to parents Tuesday morning. While an initial post referenced Central High School, it’s believed the facility mentioned is actually one located in the Kansas City Public School District, Eileen Houston-Stewart, the St. Joseph School District’s director of communications, told News-Press NOW.

The St. Joseph Police Department confirmed that no threats were applicable to any St. Joseph facility, student or staff member.

St. Joseph police have worked with local, state and federal agencies to monitor the online threat.

“Several suspects have been identified in other jurisdictions and those agencies are seeking criminal prosecution,” the St. Joseph Police Department said in a press release.

Shannon Nolte, director of nonacademic services with the St. Joseph School District, said St. Joseph police have the resources to analyze each threat, which impacts decisions made by the district.

“(They can) find out where they came from, analyze what if they’ve seen them before in different places, or if it’s a potential threat actually to our school,” Nolte said.

District officials said because false violence threats are becoming more frequent, they treat all threats as if they were true until proven false.

When it comes to why students are making these false threats, officials said it could be to incite fear and anxiousness among parents and peers.

“I think with the phones that students have these days, it’s very easy for them to do,” said Nolte. “And then these potential threats get circulated pretty quickly.”

For parents who are fearful for their child’s safety, Nolte recommends contacting their school. He said they can start with contacting an administrator. For those with further concerns, Nolte said to refer to St. Joseph police.

“They’ll help keep us safe. But reporting, you know, see something, say something is a good rule for that,” he said.

School officials have been in contact with the Missouri State Highway Patrol about the situation, and it’s suspected the post was “created to cause chaos,” they said. Parents are asked to tell their students not to forward the post or share it on social media. In the letter, parents were warned that students found sharing the post will be handled according to district policy and that criminal action could be pursued.

“It uses taxpayer dollars,” Nolte said. “Police, FBI, they’ll work past their normal hours. So they’re exhausting a lot of resources.”

Nolte added that these threats could be grounds for a long-term suspension. Nolte said students who share the threat with hopes of promoting awareness are still subject to investigation, which is why the district frowns upon posting or sharing the threat.

“I would just go tell an adult and then that way that’s the safest for you not to be implicated in any kind of consequences down the road,” he said.

Though the district hasn’t had any major lockdowns in recent years, officials can only recall small incidents during no-entry lockdowns. Even in those events, police were contacted immediately and situations were handled appropriately.

In case of an actual emergency, communication with parents would be a top priority.

“If there is a lockdown situation, we would have a reunification site that would be designated, that we would be taking students to,” Nolte said.

From there, parents could pick up their child from the reunification site as opposed to the school to avoid harm to parents. As information develops, the district would share details with parents as frequently as possible.

“Unfortunately, you get into a real live event like this, that could take hours. So we just ask for people’s patience,” Nolte said.

Nolte encourages parents to have conversations with their students about the severity of making online violence threats. For students, he said telling a trusted adult will always be the right thing to do.

“We encourage that. Try not to spread that word via social media because that could make the situation worse,” he said.