FB 2/28 To All D1oo Parents District 100 Parents, I would like to update our community on a situation that occurred at BNHS over the past 24 hours. Yesterday afternoon we notified BNHS staff and parents that a message was found on a bathroom stall that threatened school violence at Belvidere North. Fortunately, students had alerted adults about the message, which led to an active investigation. This morning we concluded our investigation and found the perpetrator. This type of event, although the students involved claimed it was a joke, has serious ramifications. Pranks related to campus safety are not tolerated. These types of threats result in the most severe school consequences as well as legal and financial consequences for any perpetrator. Disruptions to the school environment like this cannot and will not be tolerated. Threats like this have increased significantly across the country in the past 2 weeks. The investigations that follow consume valuable community resources. Please take a moment and remind your children that making any threat at a public school, business or other establishment is never a joke. I urge you to talk to your children now and impress upon them the seriousness of threats in today’s society. We are grateful for the students who brought this to the attention of parents and adults in the school so quickly. I also encourage you to talk with your child about the importance of reporting suspicious activities, threats or disturbing information to a trusted adult. We investigate every threat brought to us by students, parents, and community members. We also express our gratitude to the many parents who have called or emailed to ensure we were aware of the situation, and to the school officials and local law enforcement who worked diligently to close the investigation. If you are ever aware ofa threat, please contact your school principal. Thank you, Dr. Woestman Superintendent