Thwarting School Threats Takes Vigilance by All
In the past six months, at least five northeast Iowa school districts have been forced to address possible school threats.
New Hampton dealt with such scenarios twice in a two-week period in late February and early March. Fortunately, for Superintendent Jay Jurrens and law enforcement, neither turned out to be serious.
Jurrens adds that protecting students and staff takes a group effort.
Last November, a possible threat forced Charles City Middle School and High School into a “soft lockdown” while Charles City Police investigated what turned out to be a student who meant the threat as a joke.
In January, separate threats forced Osage Schools to shelter in place and Central Springs into an E-learning day while law enforcement investigated threats that were deemed not credible.
Last weekend, Waverly-Shell Rock became aware of a video circulating through social media that, while not containing any specific threats, was troubling in nature. WSR has been working with law enforcement to monitor the situation.
