WCS Address Shooting Rumors
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
"We want to reassure people we are taking every precaution we can take," Dr. Lee Harman, superintendent of Warsaw Community Schools, said this morning.
Harman went on the air this morning with WRSW Radio personality Roger Grossman in an attempt to allay fears associated with rumors that a shooting was to take place today at Warsaw Community High School.
Grossman said he called Harman after receiving several telephone calls from parents concerned about whether to send their children to school.
Warsaw Police Department conducted a thorough investigation of the rumor, Harman said, which he believes resulted from a situation Monday in which a student allegedly made threats to shoot and/or bomb the high school. A story regarding that incident was published in Tuesday's Times-Union and, as a result, Harman said, the anxiety level of the community is climbing.
"We found no reason to feel there was any real threat to student safety," Harman said.
Along with the most recent rumor, he said, WPD is providing security and a police presence at WCHS and the corporation's two middle schools.
"We need to have school," Harman said. "We can't be held hostage by rumors."
Harman said he believes the climate schools are operating in across the country is being created in some degree by the amount of media focus. "It's keeping anxiety at a high level," he said. More than a dozen students were kept home today by wary parents. An exact number of students avoiding school because of the rumors was not available.
Regardless of what is causing the anxiety, Harman said, all threats will be taken "very seriously and we want to get that message across to students."
The student who was questions Monday for the comments he made has been suspended, Harman said, and expulsion proceedings for him are under way.
"Any comment that can be viewed as a threat will be treated as a threat," Harman said. "We will follow every kind of report that we receive that we feel has a need for investigation." Each such incident will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
In the meantime, Harman said, "We've got to get past this ... we need parents' help ... they need to let their kids know that this is not funny." [[In-content Ad]]
"We want to reassure people we are taking every precaution we can take," Dr. Lee Harman, superintendent of Warsaw Community Schools, said this morning.
Harman went on the air this morning with WRSW Radio personality Roger Grossman in an attempt to allay fears associated with rumors that a shooting was to take place today at Warsaw Community High School.
Grossman said he called Harman after receiving several telephone calls from parents concerned about whether to send their children to school.
Warsaw Police Department conducted a thorough investigation of the rumor, Harman said, which he believes resulted from a situation Monday in which a student allegedly made threats to shoot and/or bomb the high school. A story regarding that incident was published in Tuesday's Times-Union and, as a result, Harman said, the anxiety level of the community is climbing.
"We found no reason to feel there was any real threat to student safety," Harman said.
Along with the most recent rumor, he said, WPD is providing security and a police presence at WCHS and the corporation's two middle schools.
"We need to have school," Harman said. "We can't be held hostage by rumors."
Harman said he believes the climate schools are operating in across the country is being created in some degree by the amount of media focus. "It's keeping anxiety at a high level," he said. More than a dozen students were kept home today by wary parents. An exact number of students avoiding school because of the rumors was not available.
Regardless of what is causing the anxiety, Harman said, all threats will be taken "very seriously and we want to get that message across to students."
The student who was questions Monday for the comments he made has been suspended, Harman said, and expulsion proceedings for him are under way.
"Any comment that can be viewed as a threat will be treated as a threat," Harman said. "We will follow every kind of report that we receive that we feel has a need for investigation." Each such incident will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
In the meantime, Harman said, "We've got to get past this ... we need parents' help ... they need to let their kids know that this is not funny." [[In-content Ad]]