Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Heavier police concentration at Joplin High School as rumors of threats circulate

More police officers are on duty at Joplin High School today following escalating rumors on social media of threats against students connected to the arrest last Thursday of a freshman boy who had made a hit list.

As calls continued to pour into the high school office this morning and a number of students stayed away because of the rumors, Principal Kerry Sachetta sent the following e-mail to parents.

Dear Parents:

You may be aware of the rumors spreading among students and parents regarding a potential threat to students at JHS today related to the incident that occurred last Thursday.

We have spent several days collecting information to help determine the source of the rumors and have been unable to authenticate them.

We continue to work closely with authorities, and at this time, we have no evidence of a threat planned for today by any individual or individuals.

However, as a precaution and to help ease fears, the Joplin Police Department will have a more visible presence on our campus today. We take any threats or potential threats seriously and will continue to investigate.

We appreciate the students, staff, and parents who have taken time to send us information from social media and elsewhere to assist law enforcement with their investigation of last week's incident.

Sincerely,

Kerry Sachetta, EdD
Principal

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's funny i did not recieve an email last week or this week about any of the incidences. Even funnier a friend who's son is in 4th grade got the email from the high school. Also there is no increased police presence at the high school. I went and picked my child up shortly after 10am. No cars no police nothing. If the powers that be would actually look into these things they would have known this is not from last week but an entirely different threat. Way to just keep sweeping things under the rug JHS!

Anonymous said...

I received an email and my daughter said that there is a lot of police presence at the HS.

Anonymous said...

There were police this morning when I dropped off my child. Outside the front door - very visible.

Anonymous said...

I also received an email, and received a text from my daughter that said there were tons of police there.

Anonymous said...

The things we heard today were all over the map. I was at the school. U expected this additional police presence to be noticeable. We saw one non uniformed police officer as we were leaving. This officer was also leaving. My children did report the presence of the SWAT team, neither did the children of my close friends. There were many many absences and classes with less than half of the expected students in attendance. My child did report that at least one teacher was visibly uneasy.
People were definitely erring on the side of caution. Overall communication wasn't good. At least some kids, some parents and some faculty felt afraid. Something needs to be done that actually brings people to feel comfortable.

Anonymous said...

Every parent I have talked to was notified. There was a police presence but not tons. Just a few. There was no incident and never was one predicted. The parents or students who egged this on on Facebook should be ashamed. A lot of the kids went home and lost a day of school because of the fear mongering. Now the students who don't care about school know if they start a rumor they can disrupt school and some of their parents will step right in the trap. Caution is a good thing but spreading fear without getting the facts is careless and sets a bad example. Get off Facebook and just get the facts.

Anonymous said...

Very well said, 6:51. Parents taking their kids out of schools because of rumors over Social Media is not a good thing, they aren't teaching their kids anything and is setting a horrible example. That is the problem with society today, too quick to act on rumors without knowing any facts and parents today are teaching their kids that it's okay to do that.

Many many many years ago when I was an 18 year old, I made a list of simple rules that I would live by well into my years as an elderly person. One of those rules being; rumors will never dictate how I live my life, or how I go about my daily life. Rumors means nothing to me, they never have and never will. I don't care what kind of rumors they are, until you show me facts, show me evidence to support that those rumors are fact, they're meaningless to me. I don't care about rumors, I have no use for rumors in my life. Rumors lead to drama, and I have no interest in that or to have it in my life.

It's a shame that most young people, including young parents, thrive off rumors and drama. When things like this happen, they play victim without knowing the facts and pull their kids out of school without any justified reasons except rumors. Pathetic, and poor parenting skills in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

10:04 Update your contact info if you truly want notifications from the district. If you dont, stop complaining. Take responsibility.

Anonymous said...

Gee why didn't i think of that?! Oh wait i have. They have our correct information. But thanks anyway!