YATES CENTER — Classes were canceled for schools in Woodson County Thursday because of a threat made to Yates Center High School, district administrators announced early that morning.
The incident apparently was related to threats made during an online chat session Wednesday night, but specific details about the threat were not released.
The incident prompted officials with the Iola, Moran and Humboldt districts to send text alerts to local families. The messages assured there was no threat to their students. Classes and events at those schools continued as usual with additional officers on school grounds “as an abundance of caution.”
“We wanted to make people aware there was an incident in the area but not involving our district. Student safety is one of our most important responsibilities, so we’re constantly monitoring those types of incidents,” Iola Superintendent Stacey Fager said.
It’s always a challenge to determine when a threat rises to the level of informing the community, Fager said. Last week, an incident occurred at Iola Middle School that was resolved internally, without being communicated to the general public.
“We consider historical incidents and how that relates to information we get, balanced with public interest about the safety of our buildings,” he said.
“Parents and community members want to know all the details right away, but unfortunately that’s not always possible. With social media and our modern society, an individual could take two minutes to create a situation that takes hours or days to sort out.
“Fortunately, it’s not often those situations come up. When they do, we discuss how this may need to be communicated in our school or community.”
Fager said he spoke with administrators in Woodson County and commended them on their handling of the incident.
Classes were not scheduled for all area schools on Friday because of the end of the semester. School is also not in session next week because of spring break.
