On Tuesday, April 26, 2016, School Administrators at Clay County Middle received a tip that a Clay County Middle School Student had allegedly made comments that would be considered a “threat” against the students and staff of Clay County Middle School.
The alleged “threatening” comments included information about shooting multiple individuals at the school, and included a date of 04/20/2016, the anniversary of the attack on Columbine High School seventeen years ago in Jefferson County, Colorado. Early Wednesday morning, April 27, 2016, the West Virginia State Police were notified and began their official investigation.
According to information posted on the Clay Middle School website, three students have now been put in an “out of school” setting. As of last Monday, May 2, the school system had received no bomb threats or weapons at the school, despite rumors that were circulating on social media.
The School System is taking additional measures to help assure the safety and well-being of students at Clay County Middle School. These steps include providing additional staff to assist in counseling with students and to provide additional security and monitoring, a request for law enforcement presence and assuring all access points are securely locked. Students and parents can help by sharing this release of information with other students and parents.
Classes resumed on Monday, May 9, for all Clay County Schools. To ease concerns, law enforcement is present at Clay County Middle School. School administrators have scheduled a time for 8th grade students to meet as a group so that law enforcement personnel can speak with them to help them through the situation.
The Board of Education Meeting will be at 6:00 p.m. today as scheduled, but the location has been moved to the cafeteria of Clay Middle School to accommodate a larger audience. Prior to the Board Meeting, a public hearing will be conducted in the Clay Middle School Library at 5:30 to allow input into “Re-Imagined Time” (better known as snow packets) which can be used to make up as many as 5 school days in the next school year (not this year). There is no “Town Hall” meeting at 5:30 as was erroneously reported.
