Columbia Public Schools works with local law enforcement to investigate online threats
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
While Columbia Public Schools deemed online threats not credible, school and law enforcement officials said every threat needs to be taken seriously.
CPS Spokesperson Michelle Baumstark said in an email to ABC 17 News on Friday that every social media post reported to CPS or law enforcement has been investigated.
While the investigation progress depends on the nature of the threat, she said investigations can sometimes include interviews, home visits by law enforcement or CPS Safety and Security, taking devices or accessing accounts and search history.
Overall, Baumstark said CPS had a good day of school on Friday.
Despite this, some CPS parents still did not feel comfortable sending their children to school Friday. Misty Burkemper has two children in CPS and kept them both home from school on Friday.
“I want to know that they’re safe and the only way that I can do that is by not sending them there,” Burkemper said.
Chief Operating Officer of the Missouri Center for Education Safety John McDonald said online threats tend to circulate more after large tragedies, such as the school shooting in Georgia last week that killed four people.
“We generally know what to look for in the type of threats that are posted,” McDonald said. “There’s a syntax and a type of language that’s used in threats that are credible and threats that aren’t credible.”
Data shows there have been 74 school shooting threats in Missouri reported to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Courage2Report hotline from Jan. 1-Aug. 27, 2024.
Both McDonald and Lt. Eric Brown with the MSHP said anyone aware of a social media threat should report it to Courage2Report. McDonald said this hotline sends reports to law enforcement and the impacted school at the same time.
McDonald also said transparency with families is important so parents and students know what is happening in their district. However, Burkemper is criticizing CPS’ communication this week, calling it "awful" and saying the district didn't do enough to put people's minds at ease.
"I don't feel like they're being honest with us, and so I just dont' feel comfortable risking that," Burkemper said. "That's my kids and their lives. I'm not going to put it in (the district's) hands."
Specifically, Burkemper said parents should have been notified at the first sound of a threat. The message from CPS said the district had been dealing with "multiple incidents" related to threats "over the last several days."
In an email, Baumstark said the district has been working with law enforcement all week on various viral posts, many of which have been the same posts just reshared. She said Columbia Police assisted with the most recent post.
Columbia Police declined to comment on Friday.
"They should have told us when they first found out about it," Burkemper said. "That just seems like that would be the right thing to do to make us aware of what's going on."
Baumstark said CPS has a parent messaging system it uses to send families messages, which they have been using for many years. She said the message last night was sent over email and mobile app. Parents and guardians must have up-to-date contact information with the district to be able to receive these messages.
CPS also is asking parents and students not to forward or repost social media threats, but instead report it to school administrators and police.
Meanwhile, Columbia wasn't the only school district dealing with online threats this week.
The superintendent of the Vienna School District posted on social media Friday that the district is taking extra safety precautions after law enforcement investigated a threatening social media post.
A message was first posted to the Vienna School District Facebook page around 8 a.m. informing parents a post was made on TikTok threatening a shooting at Maries R-1 and other districts. It said police investigated the threat and determined it was unfounded.
Another post a couple of hours later explained the situation.
"While we do not believe these threats to be credible, we are working with local law enforcement to investigate and bolster security," Superintendent Teresa Messersmith wrote on Facebook.
In an email to ABC 17 News, Messersmith said district officials swept the building before school started and ensured all exterior doors were secure. They also looked at cameras to make sure no one entered the building overnight.
She said two sheriff deputies and one police officer were present on campus, with police being in and out of the building all morning and scheduled to be present again at dismissal.
Faculty and staff were made aware of the situation and told to take extra precautions, Messersmith said. School counselors also visited classrooms to make sure students' mental health needs are addressed and administrators have been walking the hallways.
No students were allowed outside of the building Friday for any recess or gym classes.
Messersmith said the message was communicated to parents via Facebook and a mobile app. She said the district uses an app called Parent Square to allow parents to receive messages from the district quickly. Parents can sign up to receive these messages.
Messersmith encouraged parents to talk with their children about reporting any threatening posts to school staff and police. People are encouraged not to share the posts.
"These incidents cause stress on our students and families, as well as our staff," Messersmith wrote. "They also disrupt the learning environment. We appreciate our administrators and local law enforcement partners who work quickly and thoroughly to investigate these threats."
She also encouraged parents to talk to their students about the seriousness of making a threat.
Several other school districts around Missouri reported non-credible social media threats with some, such as the Jackson School District in southeast Missouri, calling off classes and sporting events.
