Concord High School increased its police presence at the school Thursday and Friday in response to nationwide threats of school violence circulating online. By the end of the school day Friday, no incidents had occurred.
In a message to families Friday, Concord High School principal Michael Reardon referred to text messages that have been circulating nationwide, threatening violence against a string of schools identified with only initials, including “CHS.” As of Thursday, the New Hampshire Information and Analysis Center was not aware of any credible threats pertaining to specific schools or locations.
“Here at the high school, the administrative team evaluated all this along with [School Resource Officer] Mensah,” Reardon wrote Friday. “We concluded that while none of this constituted a viable threat against Concord High School, we decided to have extra officers on-site both yesterday and today… Truly (and unfortunately) we live in troubling times, which makes the stability and safety of our schools all the more vital.”
Absences were higher than normal across the district, according to Superintendent Kathleen Murphy.
At Concord High, 30% of students were absent Friday. At Rundlett Middle School, 26% of students were absent. Christa McAuliffe School was the elementary school with the highest number of absences, at 25%. Murphy said that although many of those absences are probably due to COVID-19 quarantining, some students did stay home because of the threats.
“Clearly it created fear in the minds of our students and families, I heard from a lot of moms and dads over the last couple of days,” Murphy said. “It did nothing more than create fear. It’s really disappointing and saddening that they have to worry about that.”
Murphy said an additional Concord Police officer was assigned to the Concord High building on Friday, while other officers were assigned to patrol areas near Concord schools. Murphy herself visited every school Friday to talk with kids.
“Some of them said they were a little nervous but they were all there, they were engaged with their teachers and that was nice to see,” Murphy said.
The vague warnings about school shooting threats have been circulating nationwide via text message and on sites like TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook. The warnings, while vague, have school districts nationwide on high alert, in the aftermath of the shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan in November that left four students dead.
It’s not the first TikTok threat that has had educators on edge this year either – in the fall, many expressed concern over the viral TikTok challenge trend “Devious Licks,” which encouraged students to steal items from their schools, and even slap teachers.
Murphy addressed the latest online threats in a message to district families Thursday, saying that she was in touch with Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood and sent information to school principals to heighten their level of awareness.
“The very last thing the district wants to do is create more anxiety than everyone is experiencing now, but I want to keep you informed should you hear rumors even though there is no specific information indicating that the online messages constitute a credible threat or is directed at our schools or community,” Murphy wrote.