Last week a rumor surrounding a safety threat to Liberty Middle School spread throughout the Duneland community. The school board was quick to look into possible threats to student safety and found it to be a myth brought about by a shocking lack of research on behalf of those spreading the rumor. An email was sent out by Duneland Superintendent, Chip Pettit on Friday, September 13. The email detailed how the rumor came to be and what was done about it.
The alleged threat stemmed from a list from the Georgia Department of Education detailing schools targeted for additional education assistance from the state. Included on this list was Liberty Middle School located in Newton County, Georgia. So, not only was this list not intended for this area, it was also not a credible threat. This goes to prove the importance of not trusting everything you hear and not spreading rumors. While it is important to double-check sources, in the event of a safety concern always bring any information to authorities. The safety of the community is always the priority. The sooner any threat goes under investigation, the sooner it is put to rest.
Pettit’s email was sent to parents and students in the Duneland community to ease their worries and minds. It assured all members of the community that absolutely zero signs were pointing to a genuine concern.
“At no time this week, have any of the safety concerns been determined to be legitimate or a threat to any school or individual in our community…All of the concerns shared this week stem from alleged threats in other states, or screenshots of threats found on the internet from other schools outside of our geographical area,” wrote Pettit in his email.
The list was not only a nuisance to the Duneland School Corporation but also caused tension in two Orange County schools in Virginia.
“A ‘target list of schools’ circulating on TikTok caused alarm Wednesday at two Orange County schools,” said Heather Price Ives in her Orange County Review article, “Orange County authorities ‘debunk’ reported threat at local schools.”
The same occurrence of the similarly named schools caused uproar throughout Orange County several weeks ago. It was soon debunked when the school boards caught wind of the threats, but still caused distress among their communities. There was also hesitation on behalf of the parents to allow their children to attend school, resulting in some missed educational times for some students.
The important part is that the students and staff are safe and the Duneland School Board continues to be proactive about possible dangers to the schools.
