Parents of Hauraki Plains College students are angry about a lack of communication around an incident last week which saw the school threatened and subsequently closed.
The school was made aware of an anonymous video containing “specific threats of harm” on Thursday, February 27. Police identified and questioned a young person in relation to the incident.
Meanwhile, classes continued as usual.
The school sent out text messages advising parents of the situation, but many said they did not receive the communication.
The first text from the school said, “a threat has been made to our school. The police are here… We are managing the risk in an appropriate manner”.
It was followed later in the afternoon by another message saying the situation had been resolved and there was not believed to be any further threat at that time.
Some of the parents who did receive the messages collected their children early, as did parents who were contacted directly by their children from their personal devices. School management then decided to close the school on Friday following an unconfirmed second threat.
“While we are unable to verify its legitimacy at this time… Out of an abundance of caution, a decision has been made to close the school for instruction on Friday,” the school said in a statement.
Police later told The Profile it was not aware of a second threat being made.
“Police are speaking to a young person in relation to the incident [and] are not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident,” Police said.
“There is not believed to be any further threat to public safety.”
Social media was awash with rumours and misinformation on Thursday and Friday, as the school community tried to figure out what was happening.
Even students had little information. One student who spoke to The Profile said they heard rumours in class on Thursday, before parents had been contacted.
“There was a boy who said there was a guy who was going to come [to the school]. And I’m like, oh, that’s just fake. But then at morning tea, it started… kids knew about it. There were a lot more teachers. I knew something bad was happening.”
One parent, Lisa, who requested only her first name be published, said she had lost trust in the school over the lack of clarity as the incident was unfolding.
“I think everybody’s just as stunned as I was. I’m not quite sure why we’ve had no communication, you know. And the only detail that we’ve received is what the kids have been told at school by the teachers,” she said.
“We’re left to fill in the gaps because we haven’t been given the right account. So everything that comes in we’ve got to consider as it could be right. And some of it is pretty scary.”
Principal Sharon Moller declined to comment on Friday, saying the school was still working closely with Police. However, the school’s board of trustees made two public statements explaining its actions during the incident.
“We immediately consulted with the Police and followed their expert direction. For safety and operational reasons, the Police controlled the nature of communications from the school, which meant that we were restricted in what we could share at the time.
“We understand that this may have caused concern,” the first statement read.
“Following a review of our emergency communication protocols, we have identified that some parents did not receive text message notifications. We are actively investigating this issue and will take immediate steps to rectify it.”
The second statement, released on Friday, clarified that the person in question was never at or around the school grounds. It also addressed a lockdown drill held at the school on Wednesday, February 26, saying it was unrelated to the incident and had been pre-planned to take place that week.
The statement said students would be offered support on their return to school this week, and warned about misinformation.
“We ask parents to discuss with their children the impact their social media posts may have on the ongoing escalation of situations when false information is shared.
“Our senior leadership team is aware of several false stories currently circulating among students, and the students responsible will be addressed on Monday,” it read.
Lisa said she had asked the principal to meet with parents as a matter of urgency.
“I’m hoping that in the next couple of days… we can just discuss how this isn’t what we want to see,” she said.
“If there is some kind of threat, we as parents have a right to do our own health and safety assessment, and we decide how much risk we want to take with our children.”
