Multiple districts — When Northview Public Schools learned in October of an alleged threat against Crossroads Middle School while school was in session, district leaders immediately began assessing the risk with the help of law enforcement.
A swift investigation deemed the threat not credible and the day went on as usual. But the situation followed a troubling trend of increased threats made toward Michigan schools this school year — over 25 reported in the month of September alone, according to an Infogram chart compiled in a Detroit Free Press report.
The statewide trend hit home locally. In Kent County, threats involving at least five school districts were made in September and October. Those incidents included:
- On Friday, Sept. 6, during a football game between Byron Center and East Kentwood, a school resource officer was told a student had a knife, confiscated a pocket knife and determined the student intended no harm. But rumors and speculation over social media about the incident prompted an investigation into a possible threat to two Byron Center schools, and the district closed all its schools the following Monday. Kentwood Public Schools remained open after its own investigation found no threat to students’ safety.
- On Sept. 18, Grandville Public Schools received an alleged threat against a Grandville middle-level school via Michigan’s OK2SAY confidential tip line. Without enough time to complete an investigation before the next day, the district closed for that day.
- During the week of Sept. 30, Forest Hills Northern High School responded to three different reported threats. On that Monday morning, administrators were alerted to a potential threat to students on an alleged “hit list” of targets. A prompt investigation found no such list existed. The following day, the school received another threat, related to a potential list of students through OK2SAY, prompting officials to close the school Wednesday. That Thursday morning, NHS received a bomb threat over the phone and launched another immediate investigation that led to a student’s arrest.
These threats were part of a national upward trend following a school shooting in Georgia in early September. But while some threats pose real dangers, some are hoaxes that can disrupt students’ schooling, raise their anxieties and force district leaders and law enforcement to investigate where the threats came from.
A System to Ensure School Safety
Determining the right next steps after receiving a threat involves quick action and thorough analysis.
Northview Superintendent Christina Hinds compared the decision to close school due to a threat to that of making inclement weather decisions.
“Decisions are never made in isolation and other professionals are consulted,” Hinds said. “For a threat or other overall safety concern, we definitely consult law enforcement to assist in evaluating the risk and determining the immediate actions.”
While schools take every threat seriously, incidents of school violence in the news or shared over social media can trigger an increase of fear, malicious actions and inquiries about schools’ safety and security protocols.
When schools are alerted of a threat to an individual or specific building via word of mouth, social media or tip line, administrators quickly follow a standard practice to determine its legitimacy and act accordingly.
Districts immediately involve local law enforcement and take steps to assess the threat’s origins and whether or not classes should continue as usual.
Scott Beckman, Rockford Public Schools director of security, said responses will involve law enforcement “regardless of whether it’s credible or non-credible; it’s criminal either way.” Back in 2014-15, Rockford Schools faced a rash of hoax threats — 12 in total.
Beckman said the district threat-response protocols remain fluid and subject to change based on the situation.
”We just don’t want people to become complacent,” he said. “The world is different than it was 10, 20 years ago. We just have to be diligent and make sure we’re informed.”
Communicating with Families is Key
After the initial call to law enforcement, there is a layered investigation said John Wittkowski, Kent ISD’s Region I emergency response and safety coordinator. The former Grand Rapids Police Department sergeant said district leaders ask questions like, “Is the threat local?” “Is it coming from a known person?” and “How specific is the threat?”
“We hustle and make sure we’re doing all we can to determine the validity of the threat,” Wittkowski said. “Many of the threats are hoaxes or are unsubstantiated. Often, it is a student forwarding or reposting threats that were initially isolated, but ‘blew up’ through mass publication on social media.”
He added: “Some districts have chosen to close schools out of precaution, where others have not.”
In the case of Forest Hills Northern High School, administrators did not close school after every hoax threat, but responded to all three with the same protocol.
When a decision is made in response to such threats, Wittkowski said, building and district leaders’ next step is to communicate to families about the situation and plan of action. Forest Hills Superintendent Ben Kirby did just that, sending out a letter to families explaining the situation and why the school did not close a second day in response to receiving the threat.
“All threats to our schools are taken seriously and investigated thoroughly,” he wrote. “Law enforcement officials and school administration deemed that there was no immediate threat to students or the school. Students continued with their classes, and the day proceeded normally.”
In Grandville’s case, after receiving the threat against one of his schools, Superintendent Roger Bearup also wrote to district families:
“Although the potential of this threat has been determined as not credible, we always follow protocol for any threat that is reported to us. … This includes involving our school resource officer and safety director, interviewing witnesses, doing home visits in conjunction with local authorities, and gathering as many facts/evidence to determine the validity of the potential threat.”
‘Report, don’t repost’
In the midst of the upward trend of school threats, Wittkowski said districts and the Kent County Sheriff’s Office are encouraging students to “report, don’t repost” suspected threats to trusted adults or through the OK2SAY tip line. When a tip pertains to a specific school or district, designated individuals receive the information from OK2SAY and are responsible for investigating the tip.
The tip line has received over 50,000 cumulative tips since its inception in 2014, with almost 10,000 in 2023, according to its 2023 annual report. The top categories for tips reported by students that year included bullying, suicide, drug use, sexual assault/misconduct/exploitation and threats toward individuals. However, Wittkowski said “planned school attacks” was the top reported tip this past September, a category not historically in the top five.
OK2SAY program administrator Mary Drew added that the number of tips received increased by 26% between January and September 2024, compared to the same window of time last year, as more students became aware of the program and utilized its services.
Both Wittkowski and Drew said they witnessed an influx of threats against Michigan schools since the Sept. 4 shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia.
Wittkowski cited a “heightened sense of fear and awareness of school violence” brought on by real events, as well as malicious or false threats of violence as reasons for this recent increase.
“People tend to be more vigilant after an actual violent event. Any threat, no matter the source or level of credibility, often creates increased reporting,” he said. “Some individuals want to jump on the ‘bandwagon’ and make threats just for shock value and many are from individuals who have no connection to the school they are making the threats against.”
The perceived anonymity provided by social media also exacerbates the problem, Wittkowski said.
Hoaxes Have Consequences
As for making false threats, he said, “Young people often do not realize what they are doing has long-term effects and that their actions have serious consequences.”
The surge of threats following the Georgia shooting, whether proven real or fake, resulted in more than 700 students being arrested and accused of making violent threats against schools in at least 45 states, according to a New York Times review of data.
What is Ok2SAY?
Established by the Student Safety Act of 2013, OK2SAY is Michigan’s prevention-based reporting system designed to empower students to help prevent violence and make their schools safer. Tips received by the line increased significantly in 2023.
“As far as true threats of violence, those are very rare,” Wittkowski said. “If they do come in (via OK2SAY or other tip lines), there’s probably a low level of probability of them being carried out. Most of the OK2SAY tips are centered around mental health, or just general behavior.”
Drew said tipper information will be kept internal, but if a tip is identified as an intentional hoax, OK2SAY shares the information with schools to hold students accountable.
“Students need to understand if they maliciously file a false and misleading tip that results in schools being shut down, there can be consequences for those who intentionally misuse the system,” she said.
In 2023, Drew said, OK2SAY logged 9,686 tips regarding 7,799 associated incidents. Of those, 203 tips proved to be false — “quite a small percentage,” she said.
She added that one of OK2SAY’s goals is to give families tools and guidance to start having conversations with their child about spreading rumors of violence either verbally or on social media.
Wittkowski stressed that the first layer of school safety is developing a climate and culture where students can develop trusted relationships with adults.
“Encourage students to report issues they believe are going to affect the safety and security of their school,” he said. “It’s everybody’s responsibility and if everybody works together, we’re going to have safer schools.”
Reporters Riley Kelley and Beth Heinen Bell contributed to this story
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