District released statement reflecting on past week after threat
A gut-wrenching week began for Clearview Regional School District after the Harrison Township Police Department announced late on Tuesday, March 13, a threat to the district was made on the eve of National Walkout Day, shutting down the district for a full school day. Nearly seven days later, the department released a statement saying:
“The Harrison Township Police Department worked with the FBI and the Clearview Regional School District and was able to identify the source of the anonymous tip. It was determined that the tip was based off an unsubstantiated social media post regarding safety concerns about the school walkout that was to occur on March 13.
“There was no credible threat to the school that day.
“We would like to caution people to be aware that not everything they see on social media may be true.
“Additionally, we would like to point out the safest and fastest way to provide information in these situations is by contacting Gloucester County Communications at (865) 589–0911 and requesting to speak directly to a Harrison Township police officer.”
Hours before the threat and after a contentious February Board of Education meeting in which the district stated it did not have a concrete plan detailed yet for National Walkout Day as members expressed concern for the safety of students, a letter was drafted explaining a comprehensive plan for the day.
Included in the letter were plans to have an indoor memorial service for the victims of the Parkland, Fla., shooting and other activities. It also stated, “However, as a one-time occurrence and in an effort to to support students’ voices, Clearview Regional will permit students to participate [in the walkout], if that is their choice. While our preference is for the students to remain in the building, we recognize that a portion of the student body will opt to participate in a walkout.”
The district did not plan to release the location students were permitted to protest to the public.
In an interview with The Sun about students returning to school the day after the threat, Superintendent John Horchak, said, “I think anybody who could have been present today would have been impressed with not just law enforcement’s response in general, but how our students responded and how our staff helped us facilitate a normal academic day.”
The superintendent also stressed the impressive speed of law enforcement — local, county and state — saying the departments “truly have been incredibly responsive and supportive with very timely responses and allocation of resources to help us work through this problem.”
Horchak was adamant the entire ordeal “is not the the only driving factor behind our efforts to improve safety.”
Additionally, on March 22, the school district released a letter to the public that, in part, reads:
“The inappropriate use of social media continues to have a negative impact on our district. The social media posts that are based upon opinions or feelings, without any credible evidence to back up their perspective, are irresponsible.”
The statement further stresses that “an irresponsible post caused an entire community undue worry. I implore the members of the school community to be cognizant of the fact that creating or perpetuating rumors with social media negatively impacts our ability to be effective and utilize resources in a responsible manner. The proverbial ‘grapevine’ played a major part in this incident.”
For the full release, visit https://www.clearviewregional.edu/
