Addressing threats towards schools

Dear Mukilteo School District families,

You may have heard that Kamiak High School received reports of a threat on social media last night. Upon investigation, it was a general threat circulating around the country and not related to Kamiak or any of our schools. Unfortunately, these kinds of “threats” are becoming quite common and school districts across the nation are battling the impacts of these circulating threats. We are taking this start of school time to share with you how we handle this kind of situation and how you and students can help.

We take all reports of threats seriously and partner with local law enforcement to investigate them and communicate with the school community where they surface. If you or your student see or hear of any threats to a student or school, you can report it in several ways:

• Contact the school office
• Call 9-1-1, especially if after school hours or for an immediate threat to a person or school
• Report it through the district Safety Tip Line, available in text, email, phone, website and mobile app

We often learn that someone shared a post or rumor thinking it might be related to their school when, in fact, it was not. Unfortunately, too often students spread misinformation, worrying others in the community. To be safe, we ask that students and families report the concern to the school or law enforcement instead of spreading what may be false information and understandably alarming to others in the community.

Please be assured that we investigate every reported threat and will notify families to the extent that we can about what we learn. Sometimes we can’t share many details because we must protect student privacy and must be careful not to interfere with an investigation. We appreciate you talking with students about this as well.

If you are interested in learning more about safety and security in our district, you can find helpful information on the Safety and Security website including school security, questions and answers, practice drills and responses and past family safety webinar recordings. Thank you for your partnership in keeping our schools safe places to learn.