Third violent threat forces besieged district to cancel another day of school

Richmond Community Schools has been battered by threats, including one that drove an administrator to resign.

A warning of a student with a gun has again shut down Richmond Community Schools, the small Michigan district that was closed all last week as the result of a threat targeting an administrator’s family.

Classes were canceled Thursday after a tip reported on the district’s OK2SAY Wednesday warned that a middle school student was going to “come to school with a gun and is not afraid to use it,” Superintendent Brian Walmsley wrote in his latest message to the community, which was titled “THIRD THREAT RECEIVED.” The decision to close was made, in part, because police officers went to the home of the student named in the warning but did not make contact with either the child or the family, Walmsley added.

“We need to support each other as the past few days have been frightening for students, parents, and staff,” the superintendent said in his message, his fifth since winter break ended. “Please take time to review with your children the dangers of threatening harm to individuals or spreading misinformation on social media and the possible consequences.”


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OK2SAY, Michigan’s statewide student safety program, allows individuals to anonymously report potential threats or criminal activities directed at students, school employees, and schools.

The tips are promptly shared among parents, school personnel, community mental health service programs, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and law enforcement officials. Along with its school-based counselors and social workers, the district is also offering free counseling to students outside of school hours.

Richmond Community Schools under siege

No arrests have been made or suspects named in the disturbing saga that began last week just as administrators and teachers were preparing to reopen after winter break. The day before students were set to return, a staff member found a letter containing an anti-Semitic death threat targeting Richmond Middle School Dean of Students Michael Woodberg and his family. That threat forced Walmsley to cancel classes all last week and drove Woodberg to resign just a few weeks after he’d started in the district.

On Friday, another staff member received an email threatening them with bodily harm if they did not quit. Fears were heightened as both notes contained personal information about the individuals under threat.

Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick is a life-long journalist. Prior to writing for District Administration he worked in daily news all over the country, from the NYC suburbs to the Rocky Mountains, Silicon Valley and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He's also in a band.

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