The just-hired Michigan middle school dean whose family was targeted by an anti-Semitic death threat that closed Richmond Community Schools for all of last week has resigned. Continuing the disturbing saga, another district staff member reported receiving an email threatening they would be harmed if they did not quit.
No arrests had been made in connection with either threat as of Tuesday afternoon.
The note that contained the anti-Semitic death threat, which was discovered last week, targeted Richmond Middle School Dean of Students Michael Woodberg and his family and contained personal information. Woodberg had only been on the job at Richmond Community Schools nine days (not including the holiday break) before the threat was discovered in one of the district’s buildings, Superintendent Brian Walmsley said in one of several messages to the community about the threats.
“The Dean of Students position was, as Mr. Woodberg stated, ‘a dream job,'” Walmsley wrote. “He was excited for his first administrative experience and work with outstanding administrators, teachers, and support staff—all dedicated to the success of students. He was equally excited to build relationships with the middle school students, who warmly welcomed him from day one.”
The initial threat, discovered on Jan. 3, prompted Walmsley to close schools for the entire week and begin this week with police stationed at each building in the small district outside Detroit. But he and local law enforcement decided to reopen schools and extracurricular activities this week even though a second threat surfaced on Sunday. Another staff member, who has not been identified, notified administrators that they received an email that threatened them with bodily harm if they did not quit.
“While this email had personal information and threatened to harm specific individuals, it was different from the previous threat in that it came from an anonymous email and was not left in the building,” said Walmsley, adding that he was optimistic that the police investigation would soon come to a conclusion.
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