Palmyra Area High School receives report of threat through Safe2Say system

Parents of the Palmyra Area School District received an automated call this morning from Superintendent Lisa Brown regarding a threat against the high school that was reported using the state’s new Safe2Say system.

The school district has said that it believes it has identified the circumstances behind the original safety concern, and does not believe believe a threat to the school exists at this time. (Updated at 9:50am to reflect message sent to parents below.)

According to the Hummelstown Sun, a similar threat report was made in regards to Derry Township School District.

Use the widget below to listen to the message from Super. Brown (in the recording the message starts in the middle and then repeats).

School is still being held today, with an additional law enforcement presence on campus. Parents may also choose to keep their children home today, and absences will be excused with a note.

According to Brown, the message said: “I overheard a conversation that someone is going to bring a gun to school Friday 1st and target 40 people.”

The tipster would not provide any additional information through the anonymous chat interface.

The Safe2Say app and phone hotline make it easy to submit tips that get routed to a crisis center operated by the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (with backend support from the Sandy Hook Promise, which developed the reporting system). The system went live last month.

After receiving a tip, the AG’s office will ask for additional info using a chat interface and identify the tip as threatening life safety or not. Tips are then be passed along to a team in the respective school district, as well as law enforcement through county-level 911 dispatch.

On a related note, this will be Superintendent Brown’s last year with the school. Her retirement was announced at a board meeting last month and her last day is planned for July 7.

Original message

Parents/Staff,

This is a message from Lisa Brown, Superintendent of Palmyra Area School District.

Last night we received a comment through the state’s anonymous tip line, Safe2Say Something. The tip, referencing our high school, read as follows…. “I overheard a conversation that someone is going to bring a gun to school Friday 1st and target 40 people”. The tipster would not provide any additional information through the anonymous system. County Dispatch and local police were contacted through the tip line system. If you have any information with regard to this anonymous tip, please contact local police.

As a safety precaution, we are sharing this information with all parents. We have made arrangements for local law enforcement to be on our high school campus on Friday, and we will remain vigilant in our attempts to provide a safe environment for students.

If you choose to keep your student home from school on Friday due to this concern, the absence will be documented as excused with an appropriate parent note.

Thank you.

Lisa A. Brown

Superintendent

Update

Parents/Staff/Students,

This is a message from Lisa Brown, Superintendent of Palmyra Area School District.

Based on the collaborative efforts of our local police departments and further tips that we’ve received, we believe that we have been able to identify the circumstances behind the original safety concern. We believe there is NO threat to our schools based on this situation.

Our local police will still be present around our schools today, as we continue to work through this issue.

This issue further supports the need for our students to communicate their concerns directly with school personnel and/or local law enforcement, in order for the resolution of a situation such as this to be expedited.

Any further questions can be directed to my office. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding as we continue our efforts to keep our students and staff safe.

Lisa A. Brown

Superintendent