PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (EYT) — In the wake of the Parkland, Fla. shooting Feb. 14, the Punxsutawney Area School District had to deal with multiple threats this week.
According to school Superintendent Dr. Thomas Lesniewski, there were four separate threats by four students, two each in the high school and middle school.
“They were not direct threats to anyone specific, but they were all taken very seriously and the students have been punished and the police were contacted,” Lesniewski told exploreJeffersonPA.com.
“It’s a credit to our student body that they informed their teachers and we were able to deal with it quickly.”
Lesniewski said one of the threats included writing on the bathroom wall. Three of the threats were bomb-related and another involved the threat of a shooting.
As for discipline, Lesniewski said punishment could include up to a 10-day suspension and a possible disciplinary hearing. Charges have also been filed against some of the juvenile students involved in the threats.
“Our main goal is to try and help our students, so it’s not all about punishment, but hopefully everyone got the message that this type of behavior isn’t acceptable,” Lesniewski said.
He also said the school district would soon hold a practice drill for a lockdown situation.
“This is a difficult situation for schools to deal with and it’s not something we’re going to fix tomorrow, but we’ll keep working on it,” Lesniewski said.
Calls to Punxsutawney Borough Police Department for comment were not immediately returned.
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