INDIANA — There's an average of 30 threats a week to schools across the country, according to the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO).
It's one of the reasons they decided to release their latest reccomendations.
NASRO says the threats can interrupt learning, which is why they are recommending not disrupting schools any more than necessary.
"They want to disrupt, they want to cause panic, they want to cause fear in our community," Mac Hardy with NASRO said.
NASRO calls for school districts to mitigate a threat before disrupting class if possible.
In many instances, Hardy says the threats are hoaxes, and moving students could inadvertently put them in more risk.
NASRO does say every threat should be taken seriously, which is why it's important to move quickly when schools receive them.
"How do I know that when I send them outside of the school building, that's a safer place than staying where I am at," Hardy said. "How specific is it? Is it a specific threat, does it have a specific time, a specific location?"
Hardy adds moving students could cause unnecessary emotional stress on anyone involved.
But some parents like Melissa Stokes disagree with the recommendations by NASRO, saying it's better to be safe than sorry.
"I am sorry, yes there are a lot of hoaxes, absolutely, but look at the world we live in right now. How would you feel if you're a resource officer and you're like, 'Eh, let me pause, let me not,' and that's your kid that gets blown up in a possible school bombing or school shooting," Stokes said.
NASRO suggests all school administrators consult with law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels, including the nearest FBI and ATF offices as they develop plans for responding to communicated threats.
Without official information, parents will believe and react to rumors that paint pictures worse than the actual situation. Parents who don’t receive trustworthy information from school administrators often fill school parking lots and try to remove their children. After a school creates its plan, it should invite all potentially affected agencies and organizations to participate in a tabletop exercise to assure plan familiarity and find areas for improvement. Hoax bomb threats, shooting threats and other empty threats of future school violence are far from harmless. In addition to lost instructional time, they can result in emotional trauma for all members of the school community.
To read more on their recommendations, click here.
ISP says they defer to NASRO on recommendations for schools, and adds they take the lead on those type of situations.
