As many of you know, there have been five threats written in bathroom stalls involving both of our high schools since October 4th. Threats to “shoot up” or “bomb” the school are unsettling to our entire community and create unnecessary fear for our students, staff members, and families. The information below is intended to communicate the steps we take when a threat is reported and to outline the consequences for individuals responsible for making a threat against a school. This senseless behavior is not reflective of the vast majority of our student population, but it impacts everyone to varying degrees and needs to stop now.
When an incident is reported, the school administration notifies district administration and law enforcement immediately. School personnel and members of law enforcement convene at the school impacted and initiate the appropriate actions based on the type of threat received. This may involve going into some form of a lockdown or building evacuation while a search or sweep of the building is conducted. We send out Skylerts to update families throughout the incident. Our primary objective throughout an incident is to take the most prudent actions necessary to keep students and staff safe.
The monitoring of our bathrooms has increased since these incidents began occurring and additional steps will be taken going forward. We will be adjusting staff assignments to increase monitoring of the bathrooms at each high school. More detailed information will be shared by the school administration with students and families attending SLHS and SLEHS.
The surveillance cameras which are positioned outside of the bathroom entrances are used to help identify individuals who have used a particular bathroom at the time when the threat was believed to have been written. Individuals who are identified are interviewed by the school administration. Evidence technicians from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) will be dispatched to the school to collect any pertinent evidence. The investigation is turned over to the Oakland County Sheriff’s if school personnel are unable to identify the individual responsible for making the threat.
Everyone wishes the individual could be identified quickly, but this can be a tedious and time consuming process. When an individual responsible for a threat against one of our high schools has been identified we will pursue consequences to the greatest extent possible.
The consequences will go down two paths. From a legal perspective, the individual will most likely be arrested and face criminal charges specific to the offense. Conditions of the individual’s bond while things are going through the legal process can include home confinement, wearing a tether, being restricted from using social media, monitoring of internet use, being prohibited from possessing a weapon, and being prohibited from being on or near school property.
School consequences will include being immediately suspended from school. The school and district administration will also schedule a hearing before the Board of Education where they will recommend that the student be expelled from South Lyon Community Schools. A student who has been expelled will have this noted on their permanent record and will be prohibited from attending school for an extended designated period of time. A student who has been expelled must petition the Board of Education to be reinstated as a student. This includes SLCS and any other public school in Michigan. Reinstatement to school is not automatic and very unlikely in our district under these circumstances.
In closing, I want to stress a few very important points. Our schools are incredibly safe places for our students and staff. The safety of our students and staff is of utmost importance. Behavior that threatens our safety and well-being will not be tolerated. Individuals responsible for such behavior will be held accountable to the greatest extent possible.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or a member of our school or district administration if you have any questions.
SLCS Community!
Steve Archibald
Superintendent
