School officials: ‘zero tolerance’ to threats

Horry County Schools have seen a decrease in bomb threats over recent years, in part due to school administration’s push to teach kids the consequences of making both real and false threats.

David Beaty, coordinator of school safety and security, said the number of bomb threats have slipped over the years, but district and school officials haven’t let up on their approach to stomp out threats before they’re made.

“As far as bomb threats being made, that’s something that we do have zero tolerance for,” Beaty said.

Horry County schools received 29 student-made bomb threats in the 2011-12 school year, which was reduced to 15 during the 2012-13 year, according to district data. Two student-made threats were reported last year, and as of Thursday there were no threats this school year, Dena Chatfield, director of student affairs, said.

School officials are the first to respond to and evaluate bomb threats, Beaty said, since threats can range from a note written on a bathroom stall to a student reporting a rumor to administration. School administration performs a “threat assessment” and work in concert with police if the threat is credible, Beaty said.

“Then we have procedures on how to react to communicative threats, both bomb threats or threats in general,” he said. Beaty could not disclose the specifics of those procedures for safety reasons.

Training and protocols on how school administration evaluates threats has contributed to the decline in threat reports, Teal Harding, district spokeswoman, said. Educating students on the serious consequences of making threats or carrying out violent acts at school has probably impacted the declining numbers as well.

“Knowing you can go to jail for those sort of things kind of dampened the zeal for bomb threats,” Harding said. “But it’s not completely out of the picture – it never is.”

Horry County police say that while schools are reporting fewer threats to them, officers still have procedures in place in case the threats turn more serious.

“We handle all bomb threats with a realistic approach and try to take nothing for granted. We assume the threat is real until proven otherwise,” Lt. Raul Denis said.

Beaty said the district hasn’t found an explosive device in a school since September 2010, when a 14-year-old shot at a police officer at the school and took two pipe bombs into Socastee High School. Christian Helms, who was sentenced to six years in prison for attempted murder, shot at Officer Erik Karney before the officer disarmed the teenager.

“I think the administration does a fantastic job of communicating to the students, as a precautionary measure, that there are consequences of doing something like that,” Beaty said. “Both administrative and through the criminal justice system.”

John Washburn, Myrtle Beach High School principal, said the school has always kept student safety in mind when evaluating any sort of threat.

“If we think it’s a valid threat, we’ll evacuate the school building immediately,” he said. “It’s all about making the right decision quickly.”

A group of administrators evaluate threats if they’re written or heard in the school building, but the front desk staff has a crisis action plan if any threats are called in, Washburn said. The staff is trained to ask certain questions and glean details from the caller, then administration is immediately alerted. The School Resources Officer is highly-involved if a bomb threat is determined to be substantial.

Washburn said Myrtle Beach High students are not directly told the consequences of making a threat, but said most already know what would happen in those circumstances.

“The students want to know that this is a place that’s safe,” Washburn said. “You can’t learn if you’re always looking over your shoulder.”

Whether evacuations are needed is determined by school officials based on the total circumstances found through their investigations, Beaty said.

“Not evacuating doesn’t mean we left those kids in danger,” Harding said. “It just means it was such an obscure threat that an evacuation wasn’t warranted.”

If necessary, administrators report serious threats to police and district officials. But for the most part, school officials snuff out threats before it turns into something violent.

“It’s important to stress that these school principals do a good job of dealing with these incidents when they occur,” Beaty said.

This story was originally published April 12, 2015 at 11:19 PM with the headline "School officials: ‘zero tolerance’ to threats."