Dear middle and high school families, staff and students,

This morning, we learned of a social media post circulating among some students that contained threats regarding school safety. Although the post did not mention any of our schools specifically, we took it very seriously and worked closely with our school safety and security supervisor and law enforcement to assess the social media post.

In partnership with the Bellingham Police Department, we quickly determined that the post had no credibility and that it appears to have originated in another part of the country.

We are sharing this with you not to alarm you but to thank the people who came forward to share what they know to keep our school safe. They did the right thing by sharing what they saw with a trusted adult so that we could take immediate action. We love our students, and when our community speaks up about concerns, it helps us maintain our safe and caring school environment.

Families and students—we need your help.

• If anyone sees a threat on social media or elsewhere, tell a trusted adult or use our safety tip line. Anyone in our community can anonymously share school safety concerns via our safety tip line by calling or texting 844-310-9560 or visiting bellinghamschools.org/safe
• Please do not re-share or spread threatening messages, even out of a desire to keep your school or peers safe or informed.
• If you know of an immediate threat to the well-being of any students, consider contacting the police directly.
• Please continue to talk as a family about the seriousness of making or sharing online threats, which can have severe legal consequences. Please talk through what anyone can and should do if they know who may be making threats, even as a joke or prank. Common Sense Media has many resources to help guide family conversations about online behavior.

We know that this situation may bring up the fears we all have for safety. We love our students, and their safety is our highest priority. If you know a student in need of support or help, here are some resources available for students and families:

• Visit with a school counselor or speak with another trusted adult at school.
• Take time as a family to talk about handling stressful events. Our family resource page has tips that may help get the conversation started.
• Visit our district resources for mental health and wellness, an extensive list of school- and community-based resources for students and families.
• Learn more about our safety protocols at our safety webpage.