Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said the school division is investigating threats reported against the local school division on social media.
No schools are currently closed as a result of the threats. Kay-Wyatt said in a message to the ACPS on Monday that the threats were not school-specific and are all being reported second-hand.
Kay-Wyatt sent out an initial message on Friday afternoon warning that the threats did not seem credible, though ACPS was taking the reports seriously.
“We want to reiterate that we have no reason to believe these threats are credible and we have not been provided with any screenshots or visual evidence to support the reports of the threats against any school,” Kay-Wyatt said. “If that changes, we will be sure to let you know.”
Kay-Wyatt said anyone seeing threatening online activity can reported it through an anonymous system.
In a follow up message Sunday evening, Wyatt shared an additional message saying the reports of threats were unable to specify which schools were being threatened or provide substantive information, like screenshots or account names, about the threats.
“As I shared on Friday, we have no reason to believe these threats were credible,” Kay-Wyatt said. “The threats were generic, not backed by any other evidence, and, unfortunately, part of a broader trend of threats being made toward schools in the area. Of course, if any of that changes, we will be sure to let you know.”
The full message from Kay-Wyatt is shared below:
Dear ACPS Families and Staff,
Following my message to families and staff on Friday, September 20, 2024, regarding the reports of social media threats against multiple schools of Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS), several schools have received emails from the school community expressing concern and a desire for more clarity on the threats made. In an effort to make families and staff feel comfortable to attend school tomorrow, I will share that we have limited information and details about the threats to provide. This made it challenging to give the level of detail that our families and staff have come to expect.
During our investigation, the individuals reporting the social media threats were unable to identify specific schools by name, and were unable to provide substantive information about the threats (e.g. screenshots or account names). These reports were shared from memory. Given the uncertainty of the identity of the schools, I decided to share a general message since we need to take all threats seriously and our families need to be aware of such threats. Also, I felt that sharing this information may cause other people who witnessed the posts to come forward with more information. I also believed that sharing this was especially important given that we are seeing a number of school divisions in this area receiving similar reports in the last couple of weeks.
As I shared on Friday, we have no reason to believe these threats were credible. The threats were generic, not backed by any other evidence, and, unfortunately, part of a broader trend of threats being made toward schools in the area. Of course, if any of that changes, we will be sure to let you know.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding as we navigate this issue and focus on the safety and security of our students and staff.
Sincerely,
Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt
Superintendent
