The Haines Police Department is investigating a threatening graffiti scrawled in the Haines school bathroom. School administrators communicated the threat to parents, many of whom chose to keep their children at home.

 

There is a constant police presence at the Haines School for now. At issue is a message on a bathroom stall.  

Dryden: “The graffiti stated ‘school shooting’, and had a date of 10/19/23’

Interim Police Chief Josh Dryden says the school contacted the department on Tuesday afternoon.

Dryden: “Our response is to support the school, in any way with an increased presence, and being around, letting everybody see us, talking to the staff, talking to the kids, making sure everybody is as comfortable as they can be in this situation. And also just to support with any kind of external help we might be able to add, handwriting analysis.” 

Dryden says he expects the department will be present in the school for another day or so. He he says the investigation is ongoing. Haines school Superintendent Roy Getchell says he became aware of the threatening graffiti on Tuesday afternoon after a student reported it. 

Getchell: “We called the police and immediately did a threat assessment on this, and then began the investigation immediately and communication soon thereafter.”

Getchell says there are no other signs of threats currently, so the situation does not warrant closing the school. However, he did want to communicate openly. 

Getchell: “It was really important to get communication out as soon as we could, so around 4.05, after we met with staff, because we met with staff first, and then communicated with parents, we let them know of the situation so that they can make their decision for their own family. And we are going to respect that until this is resolved, and until parents feel comfortable about this.” 

Getchell estimates up to one out of four students didn’t come to school on Wednesday, with variations depending on the grade level. 

He says school administrators responded to the threat by increasing their presence in the hallways, and remaining visible to students. The school counselor and social worker are available to discuss the situation with students. And administrators are reviewing camera footage. 

Getchell: “We’ve got about 25 cameras at least on the inside in common areas in our building, so they are not in classrooms or restrooms or things like that, but we can gather a lot of information based on that.”

Getchell says staff are checking regularly for the appearance of more messages. He says he doesn’t anticipate installing any metal detectors.  

Getchell:”I don’t want school to be a fortress, I don’t want us to be in a situation where we look like a setting that Haines is not used to.”

Getchell says the school has done a lot in the last year to prepare for an emergency. Staff have received active threat training, and students are familiar with lockdown procedures. There is an app students can use anonymously to report threats, and another app teachers can use to initiate a lockdown and contact all other staff and the police simultaneously. 

Getchell says he takes the threat very seriously. But behind it, he sees a young person in need of help. For this reason, he says it is important to identify the person who wrote the message.

Getchell: “We want to make sure that if there is somebody within our community that needs extra support, that they are able to get that.”

On Tuesday, the school appeared to function normally, if a little quietly. Getchell says young people respond best to routine. Teachers have been provided with talking points to respond to any concerns the students might voice. Getchell warns against overreacting to the threat.

Getchell: “This is incredibly disturbing, we don’t want to get used to this, but we do need to balance this with what we want our school to look like and feel like, and have that meet the need of the Haines community. So I think that there are future conversations ahead for sure, but we have options, and we haven’t been standing flat footed, so I feel good about that.”

The Haines school remains open for its normal class schedule. You can listen to our conversation with superintendent Getchell below.