Frustration builds in Ohio, Clark County over school threats

Top 10 States for School Threats

The National School Safety and Security Services study found threat cases in 46 states in 2014-2015.

More than half were in 10 states including Ohio, according to the study.

Source: National School Safety and Security Services

With several Clark and Champaign County districts struggling to deal with school threats, it should come as no surprise that Ohio last year topped all states for the number of threats, which are increasing throughout the country, according to a study by a Cleveland-based consulting group.

"A nationwide epidemic of violent school threats is breeding fear, anxiety and frustration for educators, children and parents," says a report from the group, the National School Safety and Security Services.

Clark County schools were evacuated, delayed or closed eight times in 2015 in response to threats, according to Lt. Christopher Clark with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

“That’s the most I can remember in my career here in one year — it is a lot,” Clark said in January.

There is no national database of school threats, but over the past two years, the Cleveland-based group has reviewed more than 1,000 cases involving bomb or shooting threats in schools from coast to coast.

Ohio topped the list for the last school year with 64, followed by California with 60 and Pennsylvania with 55. Nationwide, threats targeting schools jumped 158 percent between the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years, according to the consultant’s study. Nearly three-quarters of the threats were shooting or bomb threats, and 70 percent targeted high schools.

Greenon, Tecumseh, the Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center and Clark-Shawnee schools all had delays or evacuations last year and Tecumseh had three threat incidents in three weeks earlier this spring.

Greenon High School was evacuated and released students early last week for a bomb threat that turned out to be unfounded and resulted in the arrest of one student.

Warren County Judge Joe Kirby recently expressed frustration as he ordered the detention of a Lebanon City Schools student in connection with the county's ninth school threat case in recent weeks, and the third involving a 12-year-old.

“My objective is I want them to stop,” Kirby said during a hearing in Warren County Juvenile Court.

Local districts, like many across the country, are trying to find the best way to minimize problems with such threats — which almost always turn out to be unfounded — while assuring their community about school safety.

The federal government has issued suggested guidelines, while experts consult with individual districts and statewide organizations about best practices.

But no one claims to have all the answers.

“The majority of these threats are made by some young people who are making some very bad decisions without knowing about the consequences,” said Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services.

Federal guidance

Federal authorities have established suggested guidelines for responding to bomb threats in schools and other places.

First the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms split the threats into two categories.

In cases where there is a real threat, “the caller has definite knowledge or believes that an explosive or incendiary bomb has been or will be placed and he/she wants to minimize personal injury or property damage. The caller may be the person who placed the device or someone who has become aware of such information,” according to an ATF publication.

In cases like those prompting the court cases and disrupting Miami Valley schools in recent weeks, “the person making the threat wants to create an atmosphere of anxiety and panic which will, in turn, result in a disruption of the normal activities at the facility where the device is purportedly placed.”

Depending on the threat, ATF recommends officials make a decision on how to respond based on a set plan of action practiced by staff and others who will be involved, including local police, including ignoring the threat.

“While a statistical argument can be made that very few bomb threats are real, it cannot be overlooked that bombs have been located in connection with threats,” according to the guidelines.

On the other hand, evacuating after every threat creates disruptions like those experienced in local districts.

“A student may use a bomb threat to avoid a class or miss a test. Also, a bomber wishing to cause personal injuries could place a bomb near an exit normally used to evacuate and then call in the threat,” according to the the guidelines.

Instead, ATF recommends a search be conducted before a building is evacuated if something dangerous is discovered.

“It is certainly not as disruptive as an immediate evacuation and will satisfy the requirement to do something when a threat is received,” according to the guidelines.

Staying safe, searching for solutions

Tecumseh has chosen to have students shelter in place for some incidents rather than evacuate, while Greenon ended up losing most of a recent school day to an evacuation and early dismissal.

Local school leaders say it’s a difficult decision because the possibility of an actual threat to safety can’t be ignored.

“It costs thousands and thousands of dollars each time this happens,” Springfield City School Superintendent Bob Hill said. “But we have to react each time.”

The Springfield district hasn’t had any threat incidents this school year.

Several local schools said they work closely with and take the lead from law enforcement on how to handle each case.

“They think we need to evacuate or shelter in place in until they can do a full search,” said Norm Glismann, superintendent of Tecumseh Local Schools.

Parent concerns are also taken into consideration. At a previous district Glismann worked in, parents were upset when the school didn’t evacuate following a threat investigators felt was unfounded.

“(They) wanted us to err on the side of caution,” he said.

But administrators know these threats can also spawn copy-cats.

“If you (evacuate) every time and kids pick up on that,” they know they can get out of class, Glismann said.

Tecumseh hasn’t made a rule that they won’t evacuate, although that has reportedly worked in some other schools to make the threats stop. The western Clark County district implemented some changes to when students have access to hallways and bathrooms at the middle school, and haven’t had any incidents since March.

No one has nailed down a sure-fire solution to the problem, but the National School Safety and Security Services offers three key steps designed to minimize lost time to empty threats.

Schools need to have trained teams ready to react, plans to heighten security following threats and plans to communicate with the community about the response and to counter misinformation, particularly on social media networks.

Still schools will be sidetracked from educating students by such threats, made in the aftermath of school shootings and complicated by students communicating using cell phones and other electronic devices, as well as through notes left on bathroom walls.

“It really is disappointing and it’s a disruption to the school day,” Glismann said.

Kids aren’t thinking about the consequences to them and the entire community when they make these decisions, Hill said.

“What if there was a real incident (where emergency personnel was needed)? You could put people’s lives at risk,” he said.