As school-related threats escalate nationally, Springfield district officials asked students, parents and other patrons to promptly and directly report any safety concerns.
They also asked the public not to spread any rumors related to school safety on social media.
In an email to families Thursday, the district said it is aware of an increase in threatening messages related to schools happening nationally.
“Some of the threats may mention specific schools but others are very vague,” said Stephen Hall, chief communications officer, in the email.
In a follow-up interview, Hall said Courage2Report Missouri — a platform that monitors safety threats and concerns — notified districts that it recently observed a “a significant uptick in social media posts that contained … mostly very vague threats regarding schools.”
The increase has been noted in the wake of the Sept. 4 mass shooting at Apalachee High School near Winder, Georgia, that killed two teachers and two students and injured nine others.