KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A message found written in a shared textbook at Kelseyville High School caused concern for school officials and led to an investigation this week.
Kelseyville Unified School District Superintendent Dave McQueen said a student found a phrase stating “school shooting tomorrow” in the textbook – which had been in a classroom for about two years – and showed it to school staff.
“All the students use it back and forth,” he said of the textbook, adding they didn't know who was responsible for writing the message.
McQueen said the message also appeared to be old – written a year ago, or possibly longer – but he nevertheless turned it over to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
“It's one of those things where you don't know if it's two years old or it's one day old,” he said.
Deputy Cynthia Radoumis, who is the district's school resource officer, immediately went into investigative mode, McQueen said.
“We're still investigating it,” he said.
The district posted messages on its Web site and Facebook page on Thursday morning explaining the situation.
The messages did not indicate on which day the incident was threatened to have taken place. However, on Thursday evening, the district followed up with a Facebook message stating that school would be in normal session on Friday.
Some parents reacted angrily on the district's Facebook page, asking why McQueen didn't close down school, and recounting receiving phone calls from the school that gave them little information.
One student wrote to say she and other students did not attend school on Thursday due to their concerns and anxiety.
McQueen said he considered the need to possibly close the school for a day. Ultimately, after consulting law enforcement, he said he decided to keep school open as scheduled, adding that if he had believed students were in danger, he would have closed school.
One thing that, to McQueen, indicated that it likely was not a credible threat is that he did not hear any chatter on such a threat from students, and said they received no information about an actual individual making any plans for an attack.
“This was so ambiguous,” he said.
Aside from the reaction on social media, McQueen acknowledged getting some calls and other contacts from upset parents wanting to know why school wasn't closed.
He said he also received a lot of thank you messages from parents who felt the matter was handled appropriately.
McQueen emphasized that the district has taken precautionary measures and is following all of its safety plan procedures.
“Everything went smoothly the last couple of days,” he said Friday.
He said the district is looking out for students, and will continue to be vigilant about any possible threats.
“It doesn't matter if it's a false alarm,” he said. “The way things are happening nowadays, we're just going to be careful.”
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Officials investigate possible threat message written in Kelseyville High School textbook
- Elizabeth Larson
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