This story was published in the Valley News on Nov. 15.
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield School District has canceled school today as police continue to investigate a threat made against the high school.
In a Facebook post published late Wednesday night, Springfield School District Superintendent Zach McLaughlin announced that the district had been alerted on Wednesday afternoon to a “new threat” made against the high school and was working with police in the time since to “assess the level of risk.”
“We have been unable to complete that risk assessment to our satisfaction,” McLaughlin said in the Facebook post. “Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, schools … will be closed tomorrow.”
McLaughlin said administrators would be in touch today with more information as it becomes available.
In a Nov. 5 Facebook post and alert that was sent to district parents and guardians, McLaughlin said that Springfield police had been notified by New Hampshire authorities of a “potential online threat” made against the high school over the weekend. Police met with the student who had issued the threat, along with the student’s family, McLaughlin said, and concluded that “the threatening statement did not present a real danger to the school community.”
However, the superintendent noted, Springfield police were present at the high school’s morning arrival of students — not out of concern for danger, but “simply to show support to the schools.”
McLaughlin ended his Nov. 5 note by reminding the school community that “we are no longer in a world where passing references to violence against a school can be treated with anything other than the highest degrees of seriousness.”
In late January, Springfield High School was locked down in response to a potential threat made against the high school. Police ultimately determined there was no threat, and the lockdown was lifted.
