Letter to the Community, From Office of Safety and Security
November 9, 2018
To All Members of the Cajon Valley School District Community:
Recent situations in our schools have prompted questions about campus safety, and I want to share with you information that, I hope, will answer your questions and allay concerns. Thank you for your kind attention.
Four situations related to safety took place in the last week, and I want you to know that we investigated each situation promptly and without incident to staff or students. Here is a summary of the four unrelated, safety-themed situations.
Last week, a Hillsdale Middle School student’s laptop was stolen and hacked, and the hacker posted threats of violence and messages of hate in general toward the school. The investigation confirmed this was not a serious threat, however, we continue to investigate the situation so we can exercise the appropriate discipline. To protect the investigation, we will not disclose information on the hacker, but again I want to stress the online comments are confirmed to be “not credible.”
On a separate campus, a parent reported seeing a threatening message related to Greenfield Middle School on their child’s social media account. Law enforcement was notified and an investigation was conducted on campus. The threat was deemed not credible by law enforcement. The account associated with the concern belonged to a Greenfield Middle School student. Unfortunately, the student shared account access with several peers and the message was deactivated. We will continue to investigate if new information becomes available.
Yesterday (On November 8th), there was a lockdown at Hillsdale Middle School caused by a student calling 911 after overhearing a weapon might be on campus. In fact, a separate incident occurred away from campus and did not involve our students or staff, but some student heard “rumors” that the alleged perpetrator in the off-campus incident might be on campus and might have a weapon. A worried student called 911, which lead to a lockdown and local law enforcement searching the entire campus. No weapon was found.
Earlier in the month, a student posted lyrics to a song that included messages of violence and some who read the message did not recognize the posting as lyrics, interpreting them as threats to the Hillsdale Middle School campus. The situation was handled and the student was talked to. Again, not a credible threat.
While these incidents have no direct connection, they all share the common theme of threats to safety in general and physical harm to others, specifically.
Please be advised that we will be meeting with all our students to review the important life lesson of using social media responsibility. And, we will remind our students that whenever they hear something that worries them, they should tell a trusted adult. Our children’s voices are our most important tool in ensuring campus safety.
Last night, a tragic act of violence in Thousand Oaks, CA took lives and shattered families and communities. At a time when we grapple with yet another senseless shooting, I realize that safety is on the forefront of all our minds. I wanted you to share information on these incidents and reaffirm to you that we place the very highest priority on campus safety. We will never take a chance or cut corners when it comes to protecting our employees and students.
In the upcoming weeks, the Cajon Valley Unified School District will be hosting a community forum event at all our middle schools, to include our law enforcement partners.
We warmly invite you to join us for this collaborative community event, ask questions and the opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas. We will notify you of further updates.
Thank you for your attention.
Respectfully,
Ryan Love
Coordinator, Safety and Security