- November 23, 2024
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In one weekend, Volusia County Schools investigated 36 school safety threats, Superintendent Carmen Balgobin announced during the School Board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
"Think in terms of the manpower that is and the resources that we expend," Balgobin said. "So I say this to you again, as your superintendent, I care about this community. I care about our kids. I care about their safety and I care about every staff member, and I'm asking you to please engage with me actively as we do this work together."
Balgobin's plea for the community's support to educate comes after the Volusia Sheriff's Office has arrested eight juveniles for making threats to conduct a school shooting or harm students. VSO released the names, as well as photos and videos of the arrest of three of the eight juveniles on social media, as Sheriff Mike Chitwood promised on Facebook that he would do so as a measure of accountability. A ninth juvenile — a 16-year-old Deltona High School student — was arrested on Sunday, Sept. 22. He posted a photo of a gun he downloaded from the internet along with a threatening statement on social media after getting mad at other gamers on Xbox, the sheriff reported.
"This is just not sustainable for our community or our society," Chitwood said. "If you haven’t checked in with your child or taken tough action as a parent in a while, now is the time."
Then on Monday, Sept. 23, several schools received false email threats with the intention of "swatting," the term used by law enforcement when individuals trigger an emergency response by making hoax reports.
Chitwood reported that email threats came in to Deltona Christian School, DeLand High School, Atlantic High School, Trinity Christian Academy, Calvary Christian Academy and Chase Academy. At least one more was sent to a church in Indiana.
"The swatter was kind enough to provide my parents’ address and my home address in the email," Chitwood said. "Nothing we haven’t dealt with before. We will continue to investigate this one and also stay on top of every threat that comes in as this becomes a sad and pathetic new normal in our society."
When it comes to accountability and responsibility, Balgobin said it's a shared process.
"All of us must do our part, because I can guarantee you that under my watch, on our watch here, that will always be our number one priority," Balgobin said.
The district will be following its Code of Conduct, with no exceptions, she said. The district's policy states that any student who is determined to have made a threat or false report will be expelled for at least one year and referred for criminal prosecution. The School Board may assign the student to an alternative education program during their expulsion.
Throughout investigations, Balgobin said, it's common to hear students say their threat was intended as "just a joke."
"Unfortunately, when you look at incidences outlined in our Code of Conduct, we are not supposed to determine what the intent is — it's always the outcome," she said.
Balgobin shared a video with the board that will be shown at every school, featuring principals speaking about the importance of parents having discussion with their children about school safety, and the importance of credible reporting and the consequences of false reporting.
School Board member Carl Persis said he appreciates the time and effort local law enforcement agencies have put in to investigate recent threats.
"It is a shame that we can't see this trend going down," Persis said. "... It would just seem like at some point, parents really need to be monitoring what their children are doing on social media, really keeping track of all of those things. Parents we need your help. The law enforcement community would appreciate it too."
