An alleged school shooting threat at San Mateo-Foster City School District’s Borel Middle School was found to be not credible by the San Mateo Police Department who were alerted to the potential threat by a student this past weekend.
On Saturday, June 11, a student reported a potential shooting threat to the police department after observing another student view images of weapons and a list of student names on a personal laptop, according to officials. Through its investigation, the police department “quickly determined that the threat was not credible” after contacting the unnamed student’s family and learning he had no access to firearms, the police said in a statement.
The district deployed five additional district administrators to the campus Monday morning to conduct an investigation of its own. After interviewing more than 30 individuals, they learned from the student’s peers that he had been researching and discussing mass shootings for months. A motive behind the student’s actions has not been specified.
“Sometimes students don’t think through their behavior and do things without an intent to cause harm and consideration of consequence ultimately. The student was not thinking clearly about their intent and the eventual fallout,” Dennis Hills, assistant superintendent for Student Services, said.
Given the student’s age, police said that charges will not be filed. Hills said he was unable to specify what, if any, repercussions the student faces. The student did not finish out the final days of the school year and will not be returning to Borel Middle School next year, according to a letter sent out to parents districtwide on Tuesday, June 14, following the district’s investigation.
Increased mental and emotional support was also made available to students who also have access to 24/7 care through the district’s partnership with Care Solace. District officials also spoke with each student mentioned on the list and their families and a police presence remained on campus through the final day of instruction on Wednesday, according to the letter.
“Kids are very resilient. I can’t speak to how they feel but the campus felt very back to school, business as normal. And they knew support was there if they needed it,” Hills said.
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The Borel Middle School incident comes about a month after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 fourth-graders and two teachers were killed. Hundreds of mass shootings, defined as a shooting involving four or more casualties not including the gunman, have occurred in public spaces in the first half of 2022, according to Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit tracking shootings across the county.
While happy with the district and police department’s joint response, Hills and district spokesperson Diego Perez said administrators intend to implement additional measures meant to encourage students to speak out if they observe something of concern.
Hills said administrators and staff intend to continue deep engagement and communication with parents on such issues and to limit student use of cellphones during class time. Perez said the district also plans to add an online reporting system to its website where students can anonymously report incidents.
“Our school district and other school districts across the country are grappling with these types of incidents. We have strong protocols in place and the necessary resources to keep our students safe on campus,” read the district letter signed by all members of the Board of Trustees and Superintendent Diego Ochoa. “The health and safety of our students are our top priority.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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