Dear Pennridge Community,
School administrators in Bucks County are aware of an increase in “swatting” calls being made to 911 centers nationwide. Swatting is when an individual falsely and illegally says that there is an active shooter situation taking place in a location like a school. Just this week, these types of calls have triggered police responses and school lockdowns in schools in Pennsylvania as close as the Lehigh Valley.
I met this week with County representatives from Emergency Management, 911 Call Center, District Attorney’s Office, and the Department of Law and Safety to discuss our response to any incidents and have shared this information with all of our Administrative team.
Be assured that the safety of our students is always our top priority and we continually discuss, plan, and implement best practices for the safety of our students and staff.
Over the last twelve months, with the help of the Pennsylvania State Police, we have completed safety and security audits of all buildings, both internally and externally, as well as a review of our safety protocols. These findings have led to numerous improvements regarding procedures, staffing, awareness, and building modifications. Although we do not share the specifics of these reports, please know the Administrative teams continue to work with each of our schools and offices to make the changes recommended by the State Police- they will make our schools even safer.
Each member of our community is a vital part of that team as well. Please continue to speak with our students both in school and at home about these issues and assure them we take all reports about a threat, seriously and will follow all protocols when a threat is made. That said, any false reports made will result in the prosecution of that person or persons making the threat.
If you do hear about something, don’t hesitate to use the Pennsylvania Safe2Say system linked here and also linked at the top of every one of our school’s web pages. We also encourage you to reach out to any of our School Administrators with any questions or concerns as well.
Again, thank you for all you do to help keep our students and staff safe every day in the Pennridge School District.
Pennridge Proud!
-David
David A. Bolton, Ed.D.
Superintendent
