Leaders from Greenon, Clark-Shawnee and Northeastern schools met Thursday at Greenon High School to discuss the ways their districts respond to bomb threats and to see if changes can or should be made.
“We have to react to every situation,” said Brad Silvus, superintendent of Greenon Local Schools.
The schools discussed issues such as if and when they should evacuate students from a school building, or how they will quickly disperse important information about a threat to parents.
Clark County schools were evacuated, delayed or closed eight times in 2015 in response to threats made against the school, said Lt. Christopher Clark with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
“That’s the most I can remember in my career here in one year — it is a lot,” Clark said.
Greenon, Tecumseh and Clark-Shawnee schools all had to delay schools or evacuate students from buildings in the past few months because of bomb threats.
Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center closed for the day earlier in 2015 because of a threat.
Most of the incidents have likely been pranks from students and copycats, Clark said.
“We get some copycats, some of the same type of thing over and over again. But nonetheless, we still take it seriously,” he said.
Several threats in the fall at schools across Ohio prompted federal intervention, Silvus said.
“There during the month of October, we were getting emails as superintendents from the Department of Homeland Security,” the superintendent said.
The new state safety plans are likely an effect of the number of threats against schools, Silvus said.
Evacuation of schools after a threat is discovered is one of the first moves, Silvus said, because even if they think it could be a fake threat, students’ safety is always the first priority.
A school can’t afford to not take a threat seriously, he said.
“We can’t in today’s day and age, with all the different shootings and things that are happening around the country, we have to take it seriously,” Silvus said.
Greenon had two bomb threats last fall, Silvus said, and in both instances students responsible for placing the threats were disciplined.
If law enforcement finds a person — student or adult — responsible for the threat, they are charged with a felony offense, Clark said.
Students also face the maximum penalty from schools if they make a threat, Silvus said, which is expulsion.
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