OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Craig Manthe says it was 3:13 p.m. when he received a text alert from the Shawnee Mission School District Monday that read, “Vague threat received by OP Police. As a precaution, all SMSD schools’ doors locked.”
Manthe, who has two kids that attend Rosewood Elementary, says what concerned him the most was the timing.
“The first time I received any warning was a text message that we got after school had already released,” he said. His kids get out of school at 3:10 p.m.
Shawnee Mission District Spokeswoman Leigh Anne Neal said the district went into lockdown at 12:45 p.m. after learning of the threat around 11 a.m.
“There wasn’t anything specific that indicated there was an immediate safety threat,” she said. She says the district was working with Overland Park police to get more information before deciding to go into lockdown and later telling parents of the districts’ decision.
“We want to balance the communication with being able to give them accurate information and not cause widespread panic,” Neal said.
But parents like Manthe said the moment the district goes into lockdown, parents should be notified.
“Communication is paramount and as parents we need to know as soon as it’s happening,” says Manthe.
Neal said the district asked school principals to send out an email blast to parents but that quickly overwhelmed the district’s computer system and she adds the district doesn’t have the technology to send out mass phone recordings in a short time frame to every parent in the district.
“As we continue to improve our technology to get some new student information systems in the future, we’re certainly always looking for what is maybe new on the market, what technologies will help us to improve that,” Neal said.
Overland Park police have since determined that the phone threat warning of a possible gunman showing up at an unnamed Johnson County school Monday was probably a hoax. Officers traced the phone number to a landline account that isn’t registered to anyone.
email: rob.low@wdaftv4.com
Twitter @fox4roblow
