JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley School District superintendent Tracy Vitale thanked staff during a school board meeting, Monday, Sep. 16, for working with law enforcement to investigate reports of threats made on social media over the weekend.

Law enforcement found the threats, many of which were made over the instant messaging app Snapchat, to be non-credible, according to an announcement shared on the district’s website Sunday. The district’s secondary campus saw an increased police presence Monday “as a precaution.”

“I just have a giant thank you to law enforcement and a number of executive team members that worked all day yesterday to get the letter out to the public and work through the weekend with the police as they were investigating,” Vitale said Monday evening.

Jason Young, Seneca Valley safety and security director, said the district received anonymous reports about threats over online reporting platforms Sprigeo and Safe2Say.

At this point, he said no Seneca Valley students seem to be connected to the threats.

“We take every threat seriously,” Vitale said. “Whether it’s a joke or not, every threat is thoroughly investigated, and once those are deemed non-credible, we do release that to the public.”

“I feel that a number of executive team members ... they’re stepping out of church, taking phone calls, stepping out of family time yesterday, and I just want to publicly thank our team here at Seneca Valley, as well as our police, local, state and FBI,” she said.

In a Sunday announcement, Seneca Valley School District asked for the community’s assistance.

“It is important for us to ask questions to our children about social media threats (especially regarding Snapchat) or rumors to gain credible information that can be immediately reported to us for an investigation,” Vitale said in the website post. “Also, when a student or adult reposts or shares a post that is not verified/true, please know it exacerbates the situation and makes it more difficult for police to investigate.

“Providing detailed information, including screenshots, names and dates is critical and certainly the most effective way for such a situation to be addressed.”

The post, made at about 3 p.m. Sunday, indicated the district had worked closely with law enforcement to investigate the threats for the past 36 hours. This included interviews with the involved parties, she said.

Vitale said the district and law enforcement will fully prosecute any individual found to be a part of any threat now or in the future.

People with information that will help the administration or police regarding situations in the district should contact Seneca Valley or the police directly.

Young, Seneca Valley safety and security director, is available at 724-452-6040, ext. 1620, or by email at youngjt@svsd.net.

The announcement on Seneca Valley’s website comes the weekend after Butler Area and Slippery Rock Area school districts closed their doors Thursday citing threats and an “abundance of caution” respectively.

In a Thursday email, Butler Area School District superintendent Brian White said the district is considering legal action against a social media site for not taking corrective action or alerting the district about a “significant volume of threatening posts” that were made.

He also noted the district will take steps to hold those who are responsible for the threats accountable for their actions. White met Thursday morning with Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger.

Meanwhile, at Seneca Valley, Young said he will speak to the superintendent about the possibility of taking similar legal recourse.

The Butler Area and Slippery Rock Area school districts returned to their normal schedules Friday and continued to operate that way Monday.

White asked parents to report any threatening message their children receive through texts or social media by contacting the district or police. He highlighted the Safe2Say platform as the best way to contact the district via 1-844-SAF2SAY or www.safe2saypa.org