Published Thursday, April 29, 1999 Officials have said most of the reports have either been unfounded or resulted in nothing more serious than the suspension of students.
But Wednesday, Mercer County District Attorney put area students on notice: He asked school officials to report any threats of violent behavior to police and told police to file criminal charges if they are warranted.
Sharpsville police said this morning three 16-year-old boys were arrested Wednesday on charges of making terroristic threats and disorderly conduct for allegedly threatening to fol-
low and kill a male teacher and saying they had found a good spot on the school roof to plant a bomb.
Superintendent Dr. Derry Stufft said this morning one boy was suspended Tuesday but there wasn't enough valid information to suspend the other two. He said he wasn't aware of the arrests.
"We had heard from parents and students that potentially three boys were making statements,'' Stufft said. "The information was turned over to police as per the memo yesterday from Eugene Hickok, state secretary of education.''
Borough police said the alleged threats were first made two months ago but police first heard about them last weekend when six parents called.
The students were being detained by juvenile authorities this morning, police said, adding the one boy was already on probation.
Stuff said the district hasn't received many calls from concerned parents since the tragedy in Colorado but officials have been working on a safety plan and police and metal detectors were installed at last weekend's prom.
What follows is a sampling of what local school districts and police have had to deal with in the last week and how they are handling it.
Through fliers distributed at an open house Tuesday, Commodore Perry School's Crisis Management Team tells both parents and students to report disturbing things they hear, or overhear, to someone in authority, said Oliver Rodax, superintendent.
One teacher in each grade has been designated as a contact for such reports, he said.
"We'll take each case on its own merits. We'll investigate it first before deciding whether to put someone out of school," Rodax said.
So far as the superintendent knew Wednesday, no threats of violence had been reported.
A few students were reportedly using a cellular telephone to call people outside of the school and make bomb threats. Smoot said police are trying to identify those students.
"We have had no remarks or incidents here at the high school; no copycat kind of thing," said Principal Frank Sincek.
Police Chief Joseph Timko said neither Farrell nor West Middlesex schools have reported any incidents for investigation.
Monday, school officials indefinitely suspended a seventh-grade boy, whom Greenville-West Salem Township police charged with making terroristic threats, said John Ziegler, Greenville High principal.
The boy reportedly threatened one or more girls with bodily harm in school hallways and in phone calls to one girl's home, Ziegler said.
Several months before the Littleton shootings, but since the school shootings in Jonesboro, Ark., a consultant was hired to evaluate Greenville's school policy and procedures to deal with and prevent violence. The consultant, Colleen Heim, has identified small problems, such as bullying or vandalism, as "gateways" to more serious ones.
As is usual late in the school year, Reinhart Security agents have been in the high school this week, Ziegler said.
A letter will be mailed to parents, telling them to check out what their children tell them with school officials, Ziegler said.
The letter says school officials are taking seriously all threats or reports of weapons. A student causing such problems may be subject to assessment by social service agencies or by local police, the letter says.
"Nothing is a joke," it says.
Police Chief Ed Stanton said Wednesday Hermitage police have been called to investigate only one incident in the last week and it turned out to be a rumor. The police have received no other reports of violent threats in the schools, he said.
Stanton said two students argued Tuesday at Hermitage Middle School and one threatened to bring a knife to the school. School officials interviewed the student and called police but it turned out to be nothing but a scare tactic, he said.
"If it weren't for Colorado, the police would never have gotten involved," he said. "Knock on wood, it's been quiet."
Superintendent Dr. Louis C. Mastrian said rumors of "hit lists" were checked out and determined to be unfounded.
"We are not taking anything lightly," added Mastrian. "We will err on the side of caution."
Mastrian said the Crisis Management Team recently sent letters to parents about safety in the schools and urging them to call the school if they have concerns.
Superintendent Paulette Savolskis said Wednesday the multitude of rumors about threats has begun to settle down in the Lakeview School District.
Many of the rumors spread from students talking to parents, parents talking to other parents and parents talking to others in the community, she said.
The district has taken all the threats seriously and notified police who said the rumors were unfounded, she said.
Sandy Lake Police Chief Donald Oakes said police received three calls of threats and all were unfounded.
Oakes said mainly students were overheard saying they were going to bring a gun to school; there were no direct threats of bodily harm.
Lt. Billy Williams said state police investigated one rumor of a threat of harm at Lakeview; it was unfounded and the case closed on Monday.
Williams said police found the student never threatened to harm the school or anyone in the district. The alleged threat was made the day before the Colorado shooting but news of it didn't spread until the day after the shootings, he said.
The school principal sent letters to students saying that the incident was unfounded, Williams said.
"We really don't have a tide to stem," Superintendent Maddox Stokes said Wednesday. "You kind of knock on wood.''
Stokes said Reynolds administrators investigated one recent incident at the junior high "that looked like some children were overreacting'' to another student's comment. He declined to give details except to say the student made "a futuristic kind of comment.''
He said the principals are planning to talk to students through announcements or small group meetings and noted last week that administrators are reviewing the district's crisis-management plan.
"Basically we're relying on the teachers to do that communicating since they're close to them every day,'' Stokes said, adding a recent teacher in-service day was dominated by talk of school violence
