New Jersey school districts to reopen after closing due to threatening social media posts
WOODBURY, N.J. (CBS) -- Woodbury City Public Schools and Deptford Township School District will reopen Tuesday after closing Monday due to social media posts allegedly threatening multiple schools in Camden and Gloucester counties in New Jersey.
The incident resulted in the arrests of four juveniles who range from 12 to 15 years old. Local authorities said they do not believe the suspects know each other.
The threats mentioned schools in Woodbury, Deptford Township, Haddon Heights and Glassboro.
In a letter to the school community, WCPS Superintendent Andrew Bell Sr. shared a 12-year-old suspect from the school community was arrested by Woodbury City police in connection with the threat that led to Monday's closure.
According to Bell, the threat was deemed not credible yet the district ultimately decided to close schools on Monday out of an abundance of caution, saying they prioritized the safety and wellbeing of their community.
The DTSD shared in an update alert on its website that the schools will resume classes Tuesday. DTSD said it plans to increase police presence at its schools. Additionally, the district will hold all activities, including gym, recess and Spartan Care, indoors.
Families react to threats
Candice Elsesser's 9-year-old son, Xavier, spent Monday evening at baseball practice in Deptford Township, trying to ease his anxiety. It's "nerve-racking" to hear about a threat so close to home, she said.
"He's very anxious," Elsesser said.
Another parent, Darren, said the voicemail about the threat was "alarming."
"We didn't have that conversation with our kids," Darren said. "We don't want them to be nervous to go to school. We don't want them to feel like school is a dangerous place."
Schools plan to address online behavior
Schools in Deptford plan to hold assemblies with local police to educate students on digital communication, the impact of these types of threats on the community, the consequences of false public alarm and terroristic threats, and provide distressed students with helpful resources.
DTSD will hold age-appropriate assemblies for any distressed students in upper elementary school in the oncoming days.
Multiple arrests were made and charges were filed, including false public alarm and terroristic threats, according to a Facebook update from Deptford Township police Monday afternoon.
DTSD said anyone found to have threatened any of its schools will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and placed on a government watch list. If the person initiating the threats is a DTSD student, they will face suspension or expulsion.
Each DTSD school has an armed designated security officer with at least 25 years of police experience, the district added in its update.
Earlier Monday, the Harrison Township Police Department announced that a juvenile from Woodbury, another from Glassboro and a 15-year-old from Mullica Hill are in custody in connection with several social media posts threatening multiple South Jersey schools.
HTPD said there are no known threats to schools in the area, but they increased their presence at schools in the county.
Thomas E. Bowe Middle School in the Glassboro Public Schools district was also threatened, according to the Glassboro Police Department.
Glassboro police said the threat targeting Bowe Middle School was posted on Instagram.
"The children that attend school in our district may not biologically be ours, but we look after them as if they are our own," GPD shared on Facebook. "The ability to have children attend school in an environment where they can learn and just be 'kids' is of the utmost importance to us and we will never stop taking whatever measures necessary to ensure they are protected from the evil that tries to instill fear and cause chaos."
In the same post, GPD said they will have extra security in and around Glassboro Public Schools.
