Mountain Home, AR. – The Mountain Home Public Schools announced that there will be an increased police presence at area schools this week following a threat of violence posted on social media.
The school district is investigating the origin of the threat, which was posted on Sunday. The district informed the public through their Facebook page.
The post read: “Late last night, our district administration was made aware of a threat of violence at MHPS stemming from social media. Authorities are addressing this situation from all angles, and you will see an increased law enforcement presence near our schools for the next few days. Due to the timing of this situation, we understand that you may not feel comfortable sending your children to school today. If this is the case, your child’s absence today will be excused. We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.”
The school later followed up with another letter, which read:
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Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this social media threat situation. I’ve told our families before that while I am an educator, I am also a parent, and so when situations like these arise, I look at things through multiple lenses.
We all had difficult decisions to make this morning when it came to student attendance. While I am confident that our students on campus are safe today, I do understand those who want more information before sending their children to school.
At this time I do not know how much information we will learn throughout the day, but I can confidently say that local law enforcement, state police, and the FBI are all involved and are taking this very seriously.
You have likely seen similar stories from around the country today, and so of course it is possible that this is just some sort of hoax, spoof, or social media trend. However, while this may be the case, we are treating it as a credible threat that must be investigated thoroughly.
I want you to know as a school administrator and as a mom, my heart is with each family. I hope you’ll use this challenging situation as a conversation starter with your kids. I wish we never had to have these conversations, but the reality is that these things do happen, just like last week in Georgia. We have to continue to communicate the gravity of situations like these. Even if this is just a hoax of some sort, there absolutely will be consequences for those responsible, and people who participate in this kind of behavior will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I will continue to update you as I learn more, and I am grateful for your support as we navigate a situation that is completely unacceptable.
