UPDATE — 12/17 9:20 a.m.
PEORIA, Ill. — A threat of school shootings and bomb threats had school administrators on edge nationwide on Friday.
Viral Tik-Tok videos were telling students to stay home.
Peoria Public Schools Chief Demario Boone told WMBD’s “The Greg and Dan Show” the district takes all threats seriously.
Boone adds that any threat, implied or otherwise, is looked into 100%, as a precaution.
“We’re already on high alert everyday, protecting children here. So, we’re ahead of the curve…and I’m confident in our response,” Boone said.
There’s a definite advantage to having resource officers in Peoria Public Schools everyday, according to Boone.
“You have kids all the time, that love their officers so much, that they come and tell them certain things that they wouldn’t tell another officer off the street that comes in for just a day.”
For this specific Tik-Tok threat, Peoria Public Schools will continue to monitor social media for additional information.
—————–
ORIGINAL STORY
PEORIA, Ill. – As a precaution and opportunity to talk with kids — school leaders are talking about a social media post on their radar now.
Media outlets across the nation are reporting about a social media post that’s making the rounds online.
It reportedly encourages people to make threats against schools across the U.S. on Friday, the TikTok videos encouraging kids to stay home from school.
We’ve received a note from at least one nervous parent in Peoria.
Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat’s sent an email to parents, as many local districts are doing, on Thursday.
Peoria Public Schools families and staff,
Peoria Public Schools has been made aware of a viral TikTok post threatening nationwide school violence. The post, which is not directed at any specific school, includes language stating, “school shootings and bomb threats for every school in the USA, even elementary,” on Friday, December 17th.
This post has been shared with our local authorities and the Illinois State Police Department’s Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center (STIC). They communicated, “several states have reported this threat has been circulating through their school districts. At this time, the STIC currently has no information concerning any threats or attacks planned at Illinois schools.”
As the safety of our students and our staff is our highest priority, Peoria Public Schools takes every social media threat seriously and performs a thorough investigation. For this specific viral Tik-Tok threat, Peoria Public Schools will continue monitoring social media for additional information and, as a precaution, will implement increased security measures for all schools on Friday, December 17th.
As a reminder, parents, students, and community members are strongly encouraged to report any threats or suspicious social media activity to their principal or a school safety official with the district.
Peoria Public Schools is fully committed to ensuring our schools and our classrooms are safe learning environments for all students and staff.
Thank you,
Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat
Superintendent
If you think someone is planning a violent attack at your school, call Illinois’ School Violence Tipline at 1-800-477-0024 .
More information on the tipline is HERE.
Comments