Canyons District responds to viral, unsubstantiated posts hinting at school threat

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SANDY — A viral social media post insinuating a looming school threat has been circulating throughout the country, this week reaching Utah.

Since Monday, the Canyons School District received over 20 tips via SafeUT about a social media post "that really was causing quite a bit of alarm in our school community," said district spokesman Jeff Haney.

But before the tips were shared with the district, social media activity — as it often does — had already erupted into a blaze.

"The challenge we were facing is that the post didn't name a school at all, but students were acting as if it did relate to their school," Haney said. "And instead of reporting, they were reposting. So the message in the social media post was being amplified by students sharing and reposting, rather than simply reporting and allowing the administration of the school and the police to investigate."

The district, Haney added, became "alarmed" when it first started getting SafeUT tips, but when the district and law enforcement saw a copy of the social media post, they realized the same post had been circulating in other school communities across the country, as far away as Pennsylvania.

"I guess there's 2 boys and one of them is gonna stay home tomorrow and the other is gonna come to school and eventually he's gonna meet the other one at one of the doors and he's gonna hand him a gun through the door," the post read.

Last Friday, the Altoona Area School District in Altoona, Pennsylvania, had a two-hour delay after the same threat was posted on social media.

"Today after art someone came up to Eden and said 'I need you to listen to me, you seem like a really nice person so what I'm about to say is serious and you need to listen' and then told her not to come to school tomorrow and when she tried to ask why they just said some (expletive) is gonna happen but they wouldn't say what," the post continued.

"We have no reason to believe (the post) is credible," Canyons School District Superintendent Rick Robins said in a message sent to the school community Wednesday.

"To err on the side of caution and give peace of mind to students, teachers and parents, police departments serving Canyons communities have been notified of the posts, and schools this week will have administrators and staff visible in the hallways to provide additional oversight," Robins said in the message. "Canyons District schools will be held as usual unless you are otherwise notified."

While no changes were made to the district's schedule, Haney said the post and its viral nature still caused some disruptions.

"In terms of attendance and concern that's been expressed by students and their parents and even some employees, it has caused a bit of a challenge to run and operate our schools as usual," Haney said.

And even though the concern wasn't credible, Haney said the district wants this latest incident to be a reminder to avoid sharing unsubstantiated school threats on social media and instead report them to school or district officials.

In fact, the Utah Legislature during the 2024 legislative session passed HB14 among a plethora of other school safety bills, which addresses threatening or falsely reporting a school emergency.

Under the legislation, any student who makes a false or threatening report targeted at a school will face suspension or even expulsion. Additionally, it enhances the criminal penalty for anyone making a threat against a school, raising the penalty for making a false report in certain circumstances a second-degree felony.

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Utah K-12 educationUtahEducationSalt Lake County

Logan Stefanich

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Logan Stefanich is a reporter with KSL.com, covering southern Utah communities, education, business and tech news.