In the past six months, at least five northeast Iowa school districts have been forced to address possible school threats.
New Hampton dealt with such scenarios twice in a two-week period in late February and early March. Fortunately, for Superintendent Jay Jurrens and law enforcement, neither turned out to be serious.
Jurrens adds that protecting students and staff takes a group effort.Â
Last November, a possible threat forced Charles City Middle School and High School into a “soft lockdown†while Charles City Police investigated what turned out to be a student who meant the threat as a joke.
In January, separate threats forced Osage Schools to shelter in place and Central Springs into an E-learning day while law enforcement investigated threats that were deemed not credible.Â
Last weekend, Waverly-Shell Rock became aware of a video circulating through social media that, while not containing any specific threats, was troubling in nature. WSR has been working with law enforcement to monitor the situation.
