You will see an increased presence of local and state police monitoring the facilities over the next several weeks on the Midd-West Campus. This is for multiple reasons. Most notably, the climate in our country is one of grave concern for the safety of our students based upon recent events. Secondly, there has been a trend across the United States and in Pennsylvania where schools are receiving phone calls known as “swatting”. These calls, many of which have originated outside the United States, are an attempt to create large-scale turnouts of police to schools by claiming a “mass shooting” or “bomb threat” is imminent. The MWSD has not received such a call, but some schools within an hour’s drive have been a target.
Should the Midd-West School District receive such a call during school hours, our building(s) will go into a restricted movement protocol where we allow normal activities to occur inside the building, but no visitors will be able to enter. When the police can make a determination as to the lack of validity of these threats, our schools will resume their normal operations. Often with these “swatting calls”, police are able to determine they are a hoax relatively quickly.
As a school community, it is important to stay vigilant. If you receive suspicious calls or emails, please report them immediately. Also, if you see or hear things that just don’t look or feel right inform someone. If you visit our schools, please be patient and allow us to implement our safety procedures to accommodate visitors. It takes Everybody, Every Day, and Every Time to do their part to keep us all safe! Thank you!
Joe Stroup, Superintendent
Midd-West School District