Social media posts about school threats not credible, Columbia Public Schools email to parents says

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ

Recent social media posts referencing possible threats to Columbia schools are not credible, the school district wrote in a Thursday night email to parents.

Rumors spread Thursday night about possible threats to some school campuses in Columbia.

“We’re reaching out to ask for your help and support. Over the last several days, we have dealt with multiple incidents related to social media posts containing threats. These posts have been found to not be credible threats. These incidents cause stress on our students, families, and staff. They also disrupt our learning environments,” the email reads. “We are always appreciative of our administrators and law enforcement who work to quickly investigate each of these incidents and are grateful when they are not found to be credible. We are also appreciative when incidents are reported directly to the district, school, or local law enforcement.”

The email says if parents see those type of posts, they should be showed to school administrators and police. The email asks parents to not repost them to their own social media accounts.

“We are asking for your help. Please help us stop the spread of rumors. If you see a social media threat, please don’t forward or repost it. Instead, take a screenshot and share it with school administrators and police. Sharing the post makes it harder to find out who started it and slows down the investigation. When a post has been found to not be credible the continued spread causes further disruption to our schools,” the email reads.

Concerns about possible threats have been raised around the country in the wake of a school shooting in Winder, Georgia, last week.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office wrote in a Wednesday evening social media post about a "misunderstanding" of a "target schools list."

"A targeted assistance school is a public school that receives Title I funds to provide supplemental services to a select group of students who are at risk of failing to meet state academic standards. The goal of these programs is to improve teaching and learning so that students can meet the state's performance standards," the post reads. "Screen shots of these lists are being circulated via social media. These lists are made public by the Department of Education. If you google "Title I Targeted Assisted Schools List" you will find several .pdf formats of these lists. If you look at these list you will see that the screen shots being shared via social media are a hoax and very misleading. Also understand there is a Montgomery County in many states."

The Montgomery County R-2 School District reiterated the same information on its social media on Wednesday.

ABC 17 News has reached out to Columbia Public Schools and the Columbia Police Department.