In the past four school days before today, there were three evacuations in the Monroe district due to written threats. Hopefully, there has not been another evacuation today by the time you read this.
Some students are scared. Some are angry. Many parents are upset, and school district administration, understandably, is perturbed. Valuable instruction time has been lost, and students are distracted.
Most likely, the "threats" are student pranks. But the district has an obligation to treat them seriously.
Whether a series of pranks or true threats, they deserve a serious response from the district. So we propose the following.
Cancel all extracurricular activities for the high school and middle school until someone comes forward to identify the culprit or they come forward themselves. Peer pressure, or guilt, should do the trick.
When the culprit is identified, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. A clear message must be sent that a school threat is not funny, it's serious business.
Any school time lost because of evacuations should be made up by students and faculty, with no exceptions. Make clear to students that this is how it will be handled. If there are more threats, all students and faculty should be required to return to the school after it has been cleared by police that day, and classes resumed until all time is made up for the day. Sports practices can be started late. Games can be forfeited, if necessary.
District administrators, students, faculty and parents should have no patience for this kind of behavior. The best way to prevent it is to deal with it harshly.
At the soonest opportunity, the Monroe school board should begin a public process of making clear how the district will deal with such threats, and how it will communicate to parents and students what is happening during evacuations or lockdowns.
And we can do our part, as well. If and when they do identify the culprit, and prove that they are responsible, the Times can break its own rule about identifying juvenile offenders in the paper and publish their name in the newspaper.
Some students are scared. Some are angry. Many parents are upset, and school district administration, understandably, is perturbed. Valuable instruction time has been lost, and students are distracted.
Most likely, the "threats" are student pranks. But the district has an obligation to treat them seriously.
Whether a series of pranks or true threats, they deserve a serious response from the district. So we propose the following.
Cancel all extracurricular activities for the high school and middle school until someone comes forward to identify the culprit or they come forward themselves. Peer pressure, or guilt, should do the trick.
When the culprit is identified, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. A clear message must be sent that a school threat is not funny, it's serious business.
Any school time lost because of evacuations should be made up by students and faculty, with no exceptions. Make clear to students that this is how it will be handled. If there are more threats, all students and faculty should be required to return to the school after it has been cleared by police that day, and classes resumed until all time is made up for the day. Sports practices can be started late. Games can be forfeited, if necessary.
District administrators, students, faculty and parents should have no patience for this kind of behavior. The best way to prevent it is to deal with it harshly.
At the soonest opportunity, the Monroe school board should begin a public process of making clear how the district will deal with such threats, and how it will communicate to parents and students what is happening during evacuations or lockdowns.
And we can do our part, as well. If and when they do identify the culprit, and prove that they are responsible, the Times can break its own rule about identifying juvenile offenders in the paper and publish their name in the newspaper.
