Good Morning this is Superintendent Grover,
I became aware of a national TikTok trend yesterday about 11:00 am through an email from the Minnesota Department of Education. It is posted below and indicated local law enforcement was aware and that made me believe that any threats they were aware of would be brought to our attention. I forwarded the message to staff to reinforce our need to keep our eyes and ears open. I did not forward to families and was not encourage by MDE to do that. I take responsibility for not doing that. Last night one of our supporting organizations emailed out a form letter that could be used to notify parents and some districts did that. I did not see the email until this morning. That said I apologize if we were not as transparent as we should have been . Extra police presence is in our buildings at this time and we will continue to work collaboratively to keep your children safe.
December 16, 2021
Important Update from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety
Nationwide TikTok trend regarding school violence on Dec. 17
This week, a TikTok trend emerged regarding alleged threats to schools, including threats of shootings and bombings, specifically to occur tomorrow, December 17, 2021.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) has made local law enforcement agencies around the state aware of this national threat circulating on social media and we wanted to ensure school administrators are aware as well. Both law enforcement officials and school administrators may experience an increase in related reporting.
As of Thursday morning, at least three schools in Minnesota have located similar threat reporting. However, local and state law enforcement have not identified the threat as credible at this time.
At this time, DPS is reporting that the origins of this threat remain unknown and there is no evidence to suggest that any mass causality or severe violence incidents will occur on this date, within Minnesota or the U.S. more broadly.
School administrators should immediately report any threats in your area to your local law enforcement agency and to DPS' Minnesota Fusion Center at MN.FC@state.mn.us. Law enforcement officials will assess each perceived threat on a case-by-case basis for credibility and threat viability.
MDE is working with DPS as they monitor this situation and will provide additional updates if more information arises.