How Horry County Schools is trying to minimize a growing number of threats
With the number of threats against schools increasing, Horry County Schools is trying to inform students directly about the concern.
On Friday, Horry County Schools Superintendent Rick Maxey posted a video on social media, alerting the community to the growing trend. That announcement is now mandatory viewing in local middle and high schools.
Horry County Schools posted the video just days after a school shooting in California, but district spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier said the announcement had been in the works for months.
“You don’t want it to get to the point [of California],” Bourcier said.
Horry County police say they had 20 school threats as of mid-October, up from four in the same period in 2018. The numbers include cases of student threats, disturbing schools, weapons on campus, and drugs on or near a campus. Myrtle Beach police say they do not keep track of the number of school threats at facilities in its jurisdiction.
Updated figures were not available in time for this report.
A growing threat
“Horry County Schools has been experiencing a growing problem with students making threats against schools, other students and staff members,” Maxey said in the announcement.
The superintendent was traveling on Monday and not available to speak to The Sun News.
Students who make threats could face expulsion, Maxey said. Students who take part in activities that create a disruption need to understand there will be consequences, he added. Students found making threats could face criminal charges and expulsion.
“Threats will not be tolerated,” he said.
The video also included a public-service-announcement, which features police and others talking about the consequences of making threats against a school. The video will continue to play inside schools and on local television stations.
Bourcier said the unveiling of the announcement had been in the works for months and was not the result of the shooting in California or any specific threat. She added that the district has seen the number of threats increase in recent years.
The announcement was distributed to principals during a Wednesday meeting. Students in middle and high schools were required to watch the video on Thursday or Friday.
Schools, students respond to threats
The video seems to have already had an impact as one Loris Middle School student reported a statement after seeing the video, according to a police report.
A principal told a police officer that a student said a classmate had a hit list and was going to shoot up the school, the report states.
“He told his father about it because the students watched a video today about if you see or hear something, report it,” the officer wrote in the report.
Police spoke to the student who made the purported list and he claimed he was asking others about playing a video game, that it was a misunderstanding and he would never shoot anyone, the report states.
There was also a report of school threats at Carolina Forest High School on Thursday, according to a report. A student threatened to shoot classmates because he considered them “fake friends.” Police did not find a weapon on the student, whose parents were also called to the school.
Bourcier said the district sees threats at various schools and there isn’t one with a bigger issue. She added the increase in school threats speaks to society today.
“We’re seeing threats at younger ages,” she said.
Coordinator of School Safety and Security David Beaty previously said the district takes each threat seriously. Police and the school district both conduct investigations after a threat. That includes meeting with parents, determining if the student has access to weapons and to see if there are other issues in the student’s life.
“It’s not funny, it’s not a joke, it’s not the whims of a youthful teenage,” Beaty said.
Bourcier said it’s a case-by-case basis on when the school or the district notifies the community about an incident. The school district uses its call system and social media to let people know about a threat.
