At Apex High and across the state, threats on April Fools' Day rattle students, parents
After threats that turned out to be unfounded disrupted the school day Monday at Apex and Garner high schools, law enforcement agencies across the Triangle warned of copycat threats that could be linked to the date.
Monday, April 1, is April Fools Day, widely known for pranks. But a threat against a school is not funny, and law enforcement agencies have been trying to develop a long-term, widespread solution.
In the western half of the state, law enforcement searched both Kings Mountain and East Lincoln high schools Monday on similar, incorrect reports of an armed person on the school campus. Staff and students at those schools are on spring break and classes are not in session, according to WCNC.
In the past week, threats were reported against Nash Central High School in Rocky Mount and North East Carolina Prep School in Tarboro.
None of the recent threats resulted in any injuries or in any arrests.
The crime of knowingly making a false school threat is a federal crime, and those who are caught can spend time in prison. The FBI warns, "It’s not a joke; always think before you post. ... With a thoughtless remark on social media, young people risk starting out their adult lives in prison and forever being labeled a felon."
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, the vast majority of threats are made on social media threats or are inappropriate comments that don't result in violence. Data shows schools generally are still one of the safest places for children to be.
That does little to ease the worries of teachers, staff and students like those at Apex who were locked inside classrooms until the hoax was determined on Monday, or of the parents who gathered outside the school waiting to reunite with their children.
Last summer, North Carolina made it a law that every North Carolina public school identify a "threat assessment team" — a group of school- or district-level employees that fields concerns about student behavior and decides how to act on them. The law came without any additional funding or training, though, so the work is often done by people who have other full-time duties in the school.
The threat assessment teams will report annual data on the number of threat assessments conducted, the demographics of the individuals assessed, the number of times they found a threat to be present, actions taken and the results of those actions.
At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, Department of Public Safety recruited state and local leaders to serve on a Task Force on Safer Schools charged with finding ways to reduce threats and violence.
Apex High School released the following statement:
"We are proud of the manner in which our staff and students responded to the lockdown. We are also grateful to law enforcement and our security team for their swift response. We understand that lockdowns are stressful for students, staff and families, and we appreciate your patience and cooperation. Support is available for any student or staff member who needs additional assistance following this event."
