Alarming Increase in School Threats an Alert For Parents Who Could Face Consequences

Polk County Schools are undergoing a crisis as the system reports receiving an overwhelming wave of threats against schools and individuals in the first four weeks of the new school year. The school system reported that in 28 days they have conducted 140 threat assessments. Twenty-four individuals were arrested on second-degree felony charges for written threats to kill, a rate of nearly one per day of school.

Courtesy Polk County Public Schools

Pllk Schools Superintendent Fred Heid called for urgent help from parents to "have honest and lengthy conversations with their children" about the danger of toughless threats being posted on social media sites or called in to schools, primarily by students. Many are already facing felony charges in the first four weeks of the school year. Polk Sheriff Grady Judd echoed Heid's comments, pointing out that law enforcement cannot afford to take any threat lightly and will respond in force.

Polk School Superintendent Polk County School Superintendent Fred Heid and Polk Sheriff Grady Judd conducted a news conference at the Polk School offices in Bartow this morning to bring the startling numbers to the public in a plea for help from parents.

According to a statement released today by Polk school officials, 355 anonymous tips have been received regarding schools, including 249 that mentioned threats. That is a sharp increase from last year, when there were 136 threats during the entire period.

Saying that most of the threats have come from online postings, Heid said that "I am pleading with our families to have honest and lengthy conversations with their children" to make them aware of the consequences of their actions, which create "uncertainty and fear for teachers and students.

"Students will be arrested, and we will do our very best to see that they face the consequences," Heid said, listing felony charges, expulsion from school, and restitution. The latter could become an enormous expense for the family, Heid said, describing how the system sent 40 system staff in response to a threat at Haines City High School, where every student was subjected to a search. Immediately afterwards those employees were directed to two district middle schools for similar threats.

The vast Polk Schools system employs 13.000 teachers and support personnel, and as many as 125, 000 students each day, making it "the largest city in Polk County," Judd said.

Judd explained that his staff had analyzed the horrific shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School to avoid a similar situation here. Some people, he said, may call their effort "over-reaction," he said, "but until you can tell me which of these threats is real..."

"Words matter," said Judd.