A rash of viral videos on Thursday sparked large responses at school districts nationally, including in the Oil Region.
A number of videos created by users of the social media app TikTok, circulated in the days leading up to Thursday, promoted or suggested that violence would occur on Friday, Dec. 17.
The threats were generally nonspecific, neither naming any particular schools or areas of the country where such violence might occur.
A report issued from state police late Thursday afternoon said agencies from the federal to the municipal level were aware of “numerous nationwide messages circulating on social media, specifically TikTok, warning of school shootings and bomb threats” to occur Friday.
As of late in the school day Friday, no district in the area had reported any issues, though there was some expected absenteeism, superintendents told the newspaper, adding that the promise of an increased law-enforcement was kept.
Superintendent John Kimmell, of the Union School District, said Friday had been “uneventful.”
His district issued a statement late Thursday afternoon indicating that it had been made aware of the threats, which they said did not appear to have originated from within the district. They then, Kimmel said, “took some extra precautions.”
Administration and staff also stayed after Thursday night’s basketball game, Kimmell said, to sweep the hallways for anything suspicious or out of order. They also clocked in early Friday morning to review overnight video footage of the campus for any suspicious activity. All those precautions turned up “nothing of concern.”
The majority of regional districts responded with some combination of sending letters home with students on Thursday afternoon, posting electronic versions of the letters on their websites and social media accounts, and working with police and one another to ensure safety, given the nonspecific and apparently noncredible threat throughout the day Friday.
“Kids brought a lot of (information) to us,” Superintendent Mark Loucks, of the Franklin Area School District, said. “We’re lucky, we have a lot of kids who want to do the right thing.”
Between information from students and other regional superintendents, Loucks said, everyone was able to work together to ensure students stayed safe and parents were informed before Friday came.
Loucks, along with superintendents Kevin Briggs (Valley Grove), Bill Vonada (Cranberry) and Amanda Hetrick (Forest) all responded to questions from the newspaper Friday, indicating an anticipated presence of law enforcement on their campuses throughout Friday. It was a day that turned out to be uneventful overall.
