‘Threat’ does not close schools at South Butler
A quick-thinking student and an anti-violence program used by the school have quashed a potential threat to the South Butler County School District.
Superintendent David Foley on Monday morning announced that a “social media threat” was posted over the weekend by a Knoch High School student.
“An alert classmate made a screenshot of the threat and reported the incident through the Safe2Say Something system, which is a youth violence prevention program run by the state of Pennsylvania,” Foley said in an email Monday morning.
He said the threat was relayed to district administration, which then referred the issue to state police.
Troopers went to the home of the student and determined that the student “acted on their own.”
Troopers plan to charge the student with disorderly conduct, and the student “has received school discipline,” the email stated.
The decision was made not to close school Monday based on collaboration with state police and the student’s parents.
“On behalf of the South Butler administration, school police and the entire community, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the person who reported this post,” Foley said in the email. “Their quick and decisive action, along with the Safe2Say Something system following their protocols and immediately alerting the police, may have prevented harm to our students and staff.”
The email did not reveal the student’s gender, age, grade or the nature of the threat.
Foley said on Monday afternoon he could not reveal any details about the threat or the student who posted it.
Foley would only say the student is a juvenile.
All public school districts in the state were required to have the Safe2Say Something program in place by January 2019.
Pat Sarnese, director of school police and transportation at South Butler, was in charge of the program in the district and trained students on how to use the mobile app and fill out the online tip form.
“The students are the eyes and ears of what’s going on inside the schools,” Sarnese said in March 2019. “They see, hear and know far more than we ever could as staff members.”
He said the anonymous component of the program and the various ways it can be used allow the district to be proactive, rather than reactive, when it comes to a potential threat.
Calls, texts, reports on the app or emails containing tips go directly to a dispatcher in Harrisburg at the state attorney general’s office.
The dispatcher then asks the student or parent any questions they might have to clarify a threat, and decides whether the situation constitutes a danger to the school or community.
If a report is deemed credible, the dispatcher contacts the school district. If an imminent threat is apparent, the dispatcher will contact the state police barracks nearest the school district.
Parents and students interviewed in 2019 were relieved that they have an avenue to safely report potential threats through the Safe2Say Something program.
