Dear SDoL family,
We continue to hear from you students and families about vague threats to schools circulating on social media platforms like Snapchat and TikTok. Many of these are repeats and copycat posts, but we acknowledge that any threat to schools is concerning to students, staff and families.
We remain in regular, close contact with law enforcement to investigate these threats and provide additional police presence in and around our schools. In a Crimewatch post on Tuesday, Lancaster City Police, working with state police and the FBI, said they have been unable to identify “any credible threats to schools within the School District of Lancaster at this time.”
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for random threats to appear online following an incidence of school violence. We also encourage you to talk with your children about threats, especially if they are on social media, in age-appropriate ways. It is important to validate their feelings and emphasize that schools are safe. To help you, we published links to a few resources on our website .
We also have school personnel available to meet with students who have concerns about safety. While these threats have not been found credible, it is always appropriate for students to share concerns with adults in our school or report them anonymously through Safe2Say.
Resources
For teachers and parents:
For teachers
- Helping youth after community trauma: tips for educators
- Assisting parents/caregivers in coping with collective traumas – The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Thank you for your cooperation, understanding, and support.
Sincerely,
Dr. Keith Miles Jr.
Superintendent of Schools
School District of Lancaster