admin response

This is from a letter that is being to be sent out to parents and an announcement that was read over the intercom by Principal Dobbs. I was glad to hear her voice on the matter, and I appreciated how she handled it in her speech, as well.

We think it is important to share the following information with you. Several rumors have circulated by text message, email, and phone regarding a possible situation to occur at Deer Valley High School on Friday, April 20.

Yesterday, it was brought to our attention that a student made inappropriate comments at school given the content of current national events. The Glendale Police Department investigated and a district threat assessment was performed. The school and Glendale Police Department completed a thorough investigation.

Deer Valley High School takes all such information seriously. Therefore, we have put in place measures to ensure your students’ safety and are practicing all of our campus security protocols. Several district administrators will be on campus in addition to an increased police presence.

We want you, as part of our school community, to be informed and understand that campus security and, in particular, your student’s safety is a primary concern. To report information on threats or dangerous situations, contact the school or district’s Safe School Hotline 623-376-3262.

Other than the Hotline, where Dobbs said for the students to talk with teachers or with herself about things they were concerned about or information they had, this was exactly what she read over the intercom. I was very pleased with her handling of it, and I told her myself. I am glad to be at Deer Valley. Boulder Creek's incident was not handled as well.

dvhs threat

Rumor has it that there was a threat spouted off by a DVHS student that April 20th (aka four twenty, the anniversary of Hitler's birthday and the Columbine shooting) would be a "great day," and not because of pot (since 4/20 is "pot smokers day"). He said this during his history class, where they were watching a documentary on what happened at Columbine. Students told me that "he was showing everywhere the Columbine shooters made mistakes" and "said that he could fix them." This threat was proactively responded to by the DVHS administration who immediately got Glendale PD involved to investigate the rumors. They found the rumors to be "unsubstantiated." The following is what Barbara Dobbs (DVHS Principal) sent to the DVHS staff:

On Wednesday morning information was forwarded to administration regarding a student who had made some inappropriate but general statements about this Friday. Some students in the class felt uncomfortable and reported the comments to both staff and parents. We immediately followed our protocal and had Glendale PD involved. As it turns out, there was no basis for concern but we wanted to be proactive rather than reactive.

Please don't initiate conversations regarding this BUT if your students talk about "a student here threatening the school on Friday", please let them know that what they heard is unfounded. That the administration and police have thoroughly investigated and found nothing.

Thanks for helpiing us (all of us!) get through this week! Keep the information coming and we will keep you posted if other issues surface.

So I have not brought it up, but students have, and I have responded in suite. This is weird to think about. I still plan on coming to school tomorrow, but I know plenty of students aren't going to risk it, and I believe their parents have the full right to keep their children home. We'll see how many come. Another strange thing is that Boulder Creek (my school last year) had a threat about yesterday, also involving a school shooting (which made the news last night). Time for Christ to return? I'm ready.

va tech shooter

Please forgive me if this picture is too disturbing. This is Cho Seung-Hui, a 23 year old South Korean native, who was the Virginia Tech University shooter, who killed 32 people and himself this past Monday, April 16, 2007. He sent pictures of himself with text and video describing his feelings of being persecuted. He went off on Christians and the affluent. MSNBC was mailed this "manifesto" by Cho on Monday between his two killings (he killed two in a dorm, stopped, mailed this, and then killed 30 more in a classroom). MSNBC is not releasing all of the video, for some of it is too graphic and "distrubing," according to NBC President Steve Capus. Cho used a handle on the USPS Express package he sent: Ax Ishmael. What it means, no one is certain.

va tech shooting

The students at VA Tech got more than a scare today. 33 dead, 29 injured, but the death toll could still go up. Today marks the most deadly shooting in US history. I don't know what to say...Christ, come back soon. Bush's response.