Farmington High School deals with 3 noncredible threats

FARMINGTON — Students and staff at Farmington High School faced three school shooting threats over the course of eight days, Oct. 31-Nov. 8.

The first was discovered Oct. 31 written on a bathroom wall. As a result of the threat, students and staff were forced to shelter in place. The school partnered with the Farmington Public Safety Department to investigate the situation and to provide additional officers for security. Following the investigation, all students, staff and community members were informed that the threat was noncredible, according to Principal Chris Meussner.

“We spoke to students (the morning of Nov. 1) over the announcements about the seriousness of school safety threats and the heavy consequences that can follow,” Meussner said.

Shortly after the Nov. 1 announcements warning students against threating the school, another threat was found on the bathroom wall. The school once again teamed up with Farmington Public Safety to investigate the threat. This time the school stopped issuing hallway passes during the investigation and had additional police officers on campus for security purposes. The threat was once again deemed not credible.

That same day, the school was also made aware of a picture of a school threat that has been circulating on social media. The online threat indicated that something would happen at the high school Nov. 7.  The threat was confirmed by a school resource officer to have come from a neighboring school district.

On top of all the threats, the school was also alerted to the fact that a shooting occurred on Nov. 1 in the Farmington community. Police did not advise the school to go into a lockdown or to shelter in place, as they were pursuing the suspect via automobile and heading away from the school zone. However, the school went ahead and limited outdoor physical education classes until they received notification from police that the area had been cleared.

“We are asking parents/guardians to please continue the conversation about students being mindful of their words and actions,” Meussner said in a statement to FHS families. “We would also like to thank the students who continue to report situations of concern. As we have stated, ‘when you see something, say something.’  Please remember that OK2SAY is a great resource for students to report concerns.  In addition, students can talk to any trusted adult in the building if they have a concern.”

Farmington High School is not the only district dealing with threats on bathroom walls. Recently, a student from Novi High School was suspended for writing a threat on a bathroom wall, which resulted in students and staff sheltering in place Oct. 31. The district had a similar incident Oct. 26.

“Our high school staff dealt with two threatening messages written on a bathroom stall. These incidents have increased in the area with multiple schools experiencing writing in bathrooms over the past week. The school takes these situations very seriously and has increased our police visibility and also provided more structure to our times where students can utilize the bathrooms and hallways,” said Novi Community School District Superintendent Ben Mainka. “We are committed to student safety and continue to rely heavily on our partners in law enforcement and our consultants in school safety to make the most informed and research-based decisions to protect our kids.”

South Lyon Schools have seen three instances of these type of threats written on bathroom walls. One student has been suspended from South Lyon Schools, as well and is prohibited from leaving his home while he awaits his court date for writing a threating message on a bathroom wall.

“(The Novi student) did not give us any reason for (making a threat), and I am not sure why people are doing it all of a sudden, but I think with most things teens do, when one does it, it gets emulated and copied,” said Novi police Cmndr. Jason Meier.

The schools are reminding students that any unusual behavior or concerns can be reported anonymously through the state’s Okay2Say portal at https://ok2say.state.mi.us.

“Please remember that OK2SAY is a great resource for students to report concerns. In addition, students can talk to any trusted adult in the building if they have a concern,” said Meussner.