Lockdown at Highschool

[barelygettingby]

IN MY OPINION, THIS WAS A LONG TIME COMING! AND I HATE TO SAY " I TOLD THEM SO"BUT WE ARE SO LUCKY THAT THINGS DIDNT TURN OUT WORSE THAN WHAT IT DID!! A FEW YEARS BACK I HAD WENT TO THE HIGH SCHOOL CONCERNING A PROBLEM WITH MY SON. THINGS ESCALATED AND I WAS THROWN OFF OF SCHOOL PROPERTY INDEFINATLY AND THE STATE POLICE WERE SENT TO MY HOME. WHEN ASKED HOW I GOT INTO THE SCHOOL I TOLD HIM THAT I WENT INTO THE MAIN OFFICE, SIGNED IN , TOOK A NAME TAG AND WENT ON MY WAY!!! I ALSO TOLD THE STATE POLICE OFFICER AND SCHOOL PERSONEL ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS THAT IT WASNT THE PARENTS THAT THE SCHOOL HAD TO WORRY ABOUT , THAT WHEN ANYTHING HAPPENS IT WILL BE A STUDENT AND THAT THEY NEED TO HAVE METAL DETECTORS INSTALLED!!! NEEDLESS TO SAY , NOBODY EVER TOOK ME SERIOUSLY. I WAS TOLD A COMMENT WAS MADE BY THE CHORUS TEACHER THAT SHE DIDNT THINK ANYTHING LIKE THAT WOULD EVER HAPPEN HERE , BECAUSE OF ALL THE YEARS THAT SHE HAS BEEN HERE NOTHING LIKE THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED. NEWS FLASH!!! TIMES ARE CHANGING FOR THE WORSE!!! ALSO I WAS TOLD BY A MEMBER OF THE SCHOOL BOARD , AND A CERTAIN STORE OWNER ON 15TH ST ( I WONT MENTION ANY NAMES ) THAT IT WASNT LIKELY THAT ANYTHING WOULD BECOME OF IT. TO SMALL OF A TOWN?!?! HELLO??? WHEN SOMEBODY "SNAPs" MENTALITY DOES NOT KNOW THE SIZE OF A TOWN!!!! AND AS FAR AS THE LOCK DOWN I AM CONFUSED AS TO WHAT THIS DOES? OK. ONLY THE 20 OR 30 SOME KIDS LOCKED IN WITH THE SHOOTER GET KILLED AND THE REST ARE SAFE. MY FAMILY KNEW ABOUT THIS TEH NITE BEFORE IT EVEN HAPPENED. I HEAR NOW THAT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO KEEP THE METAL DETECTORS!! IF THIS IS TRUE I WILL BE VERY ANGRY!!! PEOPLE COMPLAINING OF THE TIME IT TAKES TO GO THRU THE DETECTORS? VERY MINOR COMPARED TO LOSING A CHILD OR A FAMILY MEMBER THAT WORKS AT THE SCHOOL!!!! I KNOW IF I WAS SMART ENOUGH, I WOULD HOME SCHOOL MY KIDS!!!! I REMEMBER WHEN YOU COULD JUST WALK INTO SCHOOL AND GO TO YOUR DESTINATION WITHOUT SIGNING IN ANYWHERE, OR EXPLAINING YOURSELF TO SOMEONE!!! MY HOW TIMES CHANGE!!!!

[sissy31696]

IN MY OPINION, THIS WAS A LONG TIME COMING! AND I HATE TO SAY " I TOLD THEM SO"BUT WE ARE SO LUCKY THAT THINGS DIDNT TURN OUT WORSE THAN WHAT IT DID!! A FEW YEARS BACK I HAD WENT TO THE HIGH SCHOOL CONCERNING A PROBLEM WITH MY SON. THINGS ESCALATED AND I WAS THROWN OFF OF SCHOOL PROPERTY INDEFINATLY AND THE STATE POLICE WERE SENT TO MY HOME. WHEN ASKED HOW I GOT INTO THE SCHOOL I TOLD HIM THAT I WENT INTO THE MAIN OFFICE, SIGNED IN , TOOK A NAME TAG AND WENT ON MY WAY!!! I ALSO TOLD THE STATE POLICE OFFICER AND SCHOOL PERSONEL ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS THAT IT WASNT THE PARENTS THAT THE SCHOOL HAD TO WORRY ABOUT , THAT WHEN ANYTHING HAPPENS IT WILL BE A STUDENT AND THAT THEY NEED TO HAVE METAL DETECTORS INSTALLED!!! NEEDLESS TO SAY , NOBODY EVER TOOK ME SERIOUSLY. I WAS TOLD A COMMENT WAS MADE BY THE CHORUS TEACHER THAT SHE DIDNT THINK ANYTHING LIKE THAT WOULD EVER HAPPEN HERE , BECAUSE OF ALL THE YEARS THAT SHE HAS BEEN HERE NOTHING LIKE THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED. NEWS FLASH!!! TIMES ARE CHANGING FOR THE WORSE!!! ALSO I WAS TOLD BY A MEMBER OF THE SCHOOL BOARD , AND A CERTAIN STORE OWNER ON 15TH ST ( I WONT MENTION ANY NAMES ) THAT IT WASNT LIKELY THAT ANYTHING WOULD BECOME OF IT. TO SMALL OF A TOWN?!?! HELLO??? WHEN SOMEBODY "SNAPs" MENTALITY DOES NOT KNOW THE SIZE OF A TOWN!!!! AND AS FAR AS THE LOCK DOWN I AM CONFUSED AS TO WHAT THIS DOES? OK. ONLY THE 20 OR 30 SOME KIDS LOCKED IN WITH THE SHOOTER GET KILLED AND THE REST ARE SAFE. MY FAMILY KNEW ABOUT THIS TEH NITE BEFORE IT EVEN HAPPENED. I HEAR NOW THAT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO KEEP THE METAL DETECTORS!! IF THIS IS TRUE I WILL BE VERY ANGRY!!! PEOPLE COMPLAINING OF THE TIME IT TAKES TO GO THRU THE DETECTORS? VERY MINOR COMPARED TO LOSING A CHILD OR A FAMILY MEMBER THAT WORKS AT THE SCHOOL!!!! I KNOW IF I WAS SMART ENOUGH, I WOULD HOME SCHOOL MY KIDS!!!! I REMEMBER WHEN YOU COULD JUST WALK INTO SCHOOL AND GO TO YOUR DESTINATION WITHOUT SIGNING IN ANYWHERE, OR EXPLAINING YOURSELF TO SOMEONE!!! MY HOW TIMES CHANGE!!!!

HELLO THE KIDS AT THE HIGH SCHOOL ARE STILL BEING BUZZED IN AND NEVER HAVE TO SIGN IN OR EXPLAIN TO ANYONE IN THE ROOM AS TO WHERE THEY ARE GOING, AS THAT IS WHAT THEY DID THE DAY I WAS THERE PICKING UP KIDS, AND THAT WAS JUST AROUND THE TIME ALL OF THIS WAS GOING ON!

[SoccerMom]

I think the metal detectors are on loan to us from the Altoona school district. If we want to keep them, the district will have to buy them. I don't see them coughing up the $$$ to buy them, do you?

At least they caught the perpetrators at the other school districts, wish we could say the same thing here. I think putting the kids responsible into a juvenile detention center would be a pretty good deterent.

[sissy31696]

my daughter did tell me that the detectors are gone for now, but that school employees have told the kids that they could come back at any time. Yes the original article either in the Altoona Mirror or Daily Herald did state that they were on loan from the Altoona Area High School

[Bill Latchford]

I think the metal detectors are on loan to us from the Altoona school district. If we want to keep them, the district will have to buy them. I don't see them coughing up the $$$ to buy them, do you?

At least they caught the perpetrators at the other school districts, wish we could say the same thing here. I think putting the kids responsible into a juvenile detention center would be a pretty good deterent.

Someone will probably brag about it sooner or later...and then something hopefully will happen. Does anyone know if there is a reward for information leading to an arrest type of deal out there?

[SoccerMom]

I don't know about a reward, but if there was that might help. I heard they did question a student who knows who is responsible, but won't say for fear of getting beat up. I also heard tonight a lot more went on than the information given to the parents by the superintendent. I heard a gun was found by the track, but who knows how true this is. A friend of a friend of a friend whose aunt works at the school....

[banksy]

my daughter did tell me that the detectors are gone for now, but that school employees have told the kids that they could come back at any time. Yes the original article either in the Altoona Mirror or Daily Herald did state that they were on loan from the Altoona Area High School

Yeah, if you do that one more time.... I'll spank you. I doubt teenagers beleive they could bring them back without closing the school for a few days. Besides, when you show up and their are lines to get in, you turn around with your guns and leave.

[Bill Latchford]

my daughter did tell me that the detectors are gone for now, but that school employees have told the kids that they could come back at any time. Yes the original article either in the Altoona Mirror or Daily Herald did state that they were on loan from the Altoona Area High School

Yeah, if you do that one more time.... I'll spank you. I doubt teenagers beleive they could bring them back without closing the school for a few days. Besides, when you show up and their are lines to get in, you turn around with your guns and leave.

At least they leave...end result no gun or guns in the school that day.

[sissy31696]

I just heard on the news that Juniata Valley had a bomb threat. It was a written message on a bathroom wall, threat was for today!

I also heard that quite a few have been convicted or questioned in regards to the incidents in the centre county schools.

My daughter told me last night that they are now required to leave their cell phones in their lockers, and that they must be shut off. I always thought this was the case? Maybe more of us parents need to go to the next school board meeting and get the new rules straight from the school, since they have not sent home any paperwork. She also told me that Dr. Miller made a big announcement, whether it was an assembly type or verbal, not sure, hopefully some paperwork will come home soon from the school on this!

[Bill Latchford]

It is so import that the school district keeps the parents up to speed on these types of problems. That is what gets rumors started when parents have to speculate to what is going on with their kids at school.

[150thBucktailCo.I]

These events are happening all over. It's not just in our area.

James Buchanon SD on the western side of Franklin County just had bomb and violence threats the other day.

[SoccerMom]

PENNS VALLEY AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
Judge says false threats not a joke
Dena Pauling - dpauling@centredaily.com

SPRING MILLS — About 260 Penns Valley students watched as a Centre County judge put on his black robe inside their high school auditorium on Tuesday and thanked them for listening — but said he hopes he never has to see them at his workplace.

During the past month, Judge Thomas King Kistler has seen too many local teenagers locked up in juvenile detention for writing false threats in notes and on bathroom walls at school, he said.

Crimes like that, he told the kids, may seem like a joke at first. But in reality, almost everyone gets caught and kicked out of school.

“Once the police get involved, and once I get involved, ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t help at all,” said Kistler, who has handled juvenile cases here for eight years.

To help curb the spate of false threats that have disrupted local schools in recent weeks, Kistler
has offered to speak to students at all five local high schools about the consequences of making such threats. So far, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola have agreed to take him up on his offer.

The topic was obviously of great interest to Penns Valley seventh-and eighth-graders Tuesday. Kistler answered dozens of questions, often turning the discussion into a lesson about criminal law.

“Do most people usually plead guilty?” one youngster asked.

“In juvenile court, we call it ‘admitting the offense,’ ” the judge said. “But yes, most of the time they admit.”

“What happens if they don’t?” the boy responded.

There’s a hearing. Testimony is received, and “then I have to make a decision,” Kistler said. But when false threats are found, police and school officials usually have “pretty solid evidence.” He’s seen at least four or five bathroom stalls plopped down before his bench as part of the proceeding.

Most of the teens who make threats are 12, 13 or 14 years old, the judge said, which is why he recommended speaking to the middle-school- aged kids.

“Will you get in trouble for making a stink bomb just for your own fun?” another youngster asked.

In that case, Kistler said, discipline would be up to the parents.

“But when you bring it here,” he said, standing inside the school auditorium, “it’s no longer fun. It’s a crime, and that’s when you get to visit me.”

If actually brought a bomb to school, Kistler said in response to another question, “now we are talking about things like attempted murder or risking catastrophe.” Teens can be charged as adults, he said. Instead of going to juvenile detention, they’ll go to a “place like Rockview prison.” Some students gasped.

“Oh goodness,” one boy sitting close to the front row said to his buddy.

Though some questions appeared to be testing Kistler’s knowledge about everything from what constitutes a bomb to what would happen if a whole science class were involved, the judge’s speech seemed to hit home.

“I think he got his point across,” one eighth-grader said afterward.

“It was a very good message,” his friend said, as several rows of students nodded in agreement. “It’s very serious.”

Dena Pauling can be reached at 231-4619.

[SoccerMom]

Student linked to threat note at State High
Pete Bosak - pbosak@centredaily.com

STATE COLLEGE — A second State College Area High School student was arrested Tuesday and charged with having a role in writing a threat that prompted dismissal of classes on Nov. 12.

A 17-year-old girl was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with felony counts of criminal conspiracy to commit terroristic threats and terroristic threats for her alleged role in writing a note that threatened violence. The note turned out to be a hoax.

Her co-defendant in the case is a 16-year-old male student who was arrested Nov. 20.

“The community considers these very serious, and we do as well,” said State College police Lt. Dana Leonard. “We live in a post-Columbine world where any threat of violence, school violence, must be taken very, very seriously.”

The threat was in the form of a written note posted on a door the morning of Nov. 12 in the State College Area High School South Building, according to borough police.

Police said the pair’s intention was to disrupt school for the week.

The charges filed Tuesday are the latest in a string of arrests by police across Centre County in response to a slew of threats at school districts.

This past weekend, state police at Philipsburg arrested three juveniles they said are responsible for bomb threats that led to the dismissal of classes Friday morning at Philipsburg-Osceola Junior High School. Threats were found at both the middle and high schools, state police said.

Tuesday’s arrest brings to seven the number of juveniles arrested over the past three weeks in connection with bomb threats or threats of violence in county schools. The juveniles were all lodged in the Centre County juvenile detention facility following their arrests.

State College police said the with the arrest Tuesday, their investigation into the Nov. 12 incident at State High is completed.

Pete Bosak can be reached at 235-3928

[My2Cents]

A "child" caught doing these things, ie., threats, notes on walls, etc... anything that is threatening and disrupts the "normal" school day... should be subject to house arrest... meaning, staying at home (wearing that thingy around their ankle) for one year... set back in grade for one year... and the parents fined heavily. Their picture and fingerprints should be taken and the incident recorded, kept on file as a permanent record, and follow them for the rest of their life. Wherever they go in this world to live they have to report and check in with the authorities of that area first. If they even planned on furthering their education, forget it!!
These are our children and grandchildren, that we send off to school every day. They are the most precious thing in the world to us. We try to raise them and teach them properly. We should not be subjected to these "punk kids" who think it funny to throw out these terrible threats and scares.... or worse, having something actually come down.
Everyone of these threats HAS to be taken seriously. These kids making the threats need to realize that this is absolutely NO joke... if they play with fire, they will get burned, big time.
If anyone or anything looks the least bit suspicious... no matter who or what... it should be questioned and delt with immediately.
Another thing, as Banksy stated a while back.... wheather they like it or not, there should be a dress code and none should be allowed to walk (or should I say shuffle) around the school grounds with their pale little face hidden deep inside a hood on a jacket that doesn't even fit them.
If the threat is for REAL and involves any type of weapons, etc... that "child" should be put away for life....regardless of age, and or, whoever little Johnny or little Sally is.
No excuses. Well, whadoyathink ?? Will it work

[sissy31696]

there is some updates on the article archives, and on the school website. Any parents with concerns may want to visit the school website. The school has started an email mailing llist to notify parents of events and happenings. There are 3, one for each of the schools, be sure to register for each school if you have a child attending each school.

So the school district is looking into purchasing 4 of their own stand alone metal detectors to be used at any entrance on any given day. So it sounds like they are goin to go back to their old ways! There will be random searches at entrances too!

And Dr. Miller stated that possibly in January a meeting for the parents and the school board to meet, that would be nice, we all should make plans to go. I would like to go up to the school and see if they are still just buzzing kids in willy nilly and without any questions asked! Then go to the meeting and ask him why it is happening!

oh well what are you gonna do? At least they are starting to take more precautions.