Hinsdale High School District 86 had to respond to a threat posted on social media just as first period was starting Sept. 13.
“You may have heard that over the past couple of weeks, these kinds of social media threats have been cropping up in just about every state, all over the country,” Superintendent Mike Lach said during his report at the Sept. 26 school board meeting. “We have to take them seriously.”
District officials quickly learned the threat was not viable and had notified students and parents in less than an hour, Lach reported. But the threat did cause disruption.
“It was scary. We had to set up our weapons detection systems quickly with a bunch of students inside and a bunch of students outside, but the team handled things really well,” Lach said.
Hinsdale Police Chief Brian King said police try to work quickly to determine if the threat is credible.
“The purpose of a hoax is to create disruption, create anxiety, create fear,” he said Tuesday. “Our goal is to quickly assess those and make sure the mission of the school is not in any way impacted.”
A threat will trigger an increased police presence at the school, he said.
“Any time we’re in a period of assessment, when we’re working to determine the credibility of the threat, there is going to be a heightened law enforcement response, until we can say definitely there is no threat to the safety of the staff or the students,” he said.
The Chicago Tribune reported that in a two-week period in September, threats also were investigated in Tinley Park, Elgin, Glendale Heights, Richton Park, Olympia Fields, Park Forest and the Chicago Public Schools.
Lach noted that the district does not have the tools or mechanisms to police social media for students. He reminded parents that they are responsible for their teens’ actions and asked them to monitor what their kids do on social media.
“Courts and the police take this stuff very, very seriously. It’s not something to joke about,” he said. “You can’t be saying threatening things or dangerous things in your Discord chats or in your DMs. It’s really problematic. It has a negative impact on kids and the people around them.”
King agreed and said individuals who make such threats could face felony charges.
“The threats are taken very, very seriously,” he said. “They create a lot of anxiety, a lot of disruption.”
Lach also asked people to remind friends, neighbors and kids that passing along threats on social media only makes the situation worse.
“If you see something that isn’t right on social media, report it, but don’t repost it,” he said. “Please take it seriously. It’s a big deal.”
The district’s safety and security is one of his primary goals, Lach said.
“We need to make sure every single student and staff member in District 86 can receive and offer education free from violence,” he said.
To help achieve that goal, Lach emphasized the district’s efforts to ensure that all students feel a sense of belonging at school, that comprehensive and easy-to-access mental health resources are available for students and staff, that layers of physical security continue to be implemented and that all efforts are coordinated and managed effectively.
“We continue all the time to review, reflect, to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” Lach said.
