by Kate Evans
Morgan County School Superintendent David Banks addressed recent school threats with school board members at their meeting last week. Those social media threats involved Berkeley Springs High School, Warm Springs Middle School and Warm Springs Intermediate School. References to school violence were found to not be credible after investigation by police and school officials.
Banks expressed his gratitude to Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer and West Virginia State Police Trooper Daniel Styles for their partnership and help in investigating the threats. Banks asked them both to come to the meeting so they could be recognized.
“They’ve been great through everything,” Banks said.
Banks noted that every threat or emergency is different, so coordination and collaboration is critical. He asked for increased police presence during the threats and got it, even though the police are short-staffed. Banks was pleased with how local law enforcement supports the school system.
Superintendent’s statement
Superintendent Banks read this statement about the recent school threats at the school board meeting:
“Last week was a very trying week for many Morgan County residents, students, parents, community members and school staff as well. We saw how irresponsible behavior on social media can lead to panic. We realize how important it is for our youth and our adults to be so very cautious when posting images, commenting on posts, or screenshotting posts or images.”
“These types of threats, which occurred all over our state and our country, were taken very seriously and involved rapid coordination of efforts between school and law enforcement officials. Even though the threats were found to be not credible, they caused us all additional stress when considering the safety of our children and adults. As a school system, we pride ourselves on communicating rapidly and consistently when situations arise that can compromise the safety of our children and adults.”
“As a result of these recent threats, we will be speaking to you about two items tonight that can assist us moving forward.
“First, we want to show the public and the parents what our school system is doing to educate students on the responsible use of technology and social media/messaging,” Banks said.
“On that same note, we want to share these school resources and similar parent resources with our parents and guardians so that they also can work with their children at home. For those parents and guardians who are not tech savvy, we will be inviting you into our schools for parent nights to teach you, with assistance from our central office staff.”
“Second, we are going to utilize the Office of Homeland Security’s ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ campaign and tweak it for Morgan County. All across our schools and in the community we will be posting signs like the one here. In addition, we will be teaching our students about the process so that they have an acute awareness of the process to follow when they see or hear about suspicious activity,” Banks said. 
“If You See Something, Say Something” is the Office of Homeland Security’s national campaign that raises public awareness of the signs of terrorism and terrorism-related crime and how to report suspicious activity to state and local law enforcement.
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department, Morgan County Schools and the West Virginia State Police have initiated a local public safety campaign in the schools and the community instructing people to call 911 in emergencies or local authorities if they see or hear of suspicious activity.
Signs in schools and the community will remind people to say who and what they saw, where they saw it, when it occurred and why it’s suspicious when they call.
Student, parent efforts
Adam Feazell, county schools instructional/technology coach, gave a PowerPoint presentation on what the school system is currently doing to teach students how to use social media responsibly and school parent education efforts.
Feazell noted that Senate Bill 466 (enacted in June) requires county boards of education to provide an educational program that teaches safe, responsible use and risks of social media in grades 3-12 by the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
Senate Bill 466 states that schools must include the legal and mental health risks of sharing sexually suggestive or sexually explicit materials online in their program.
Cybersafety and safety while accessing technology are stressed.
Students and parents must both sign acceptable use policies at log-in before their one-on-one school device can be used. Parents also sign a device policy. About half of the parents have already returned them, Feazell said. Teachers are doing grade-level lesson plans, PowerPoints and discussions.
Other components are activities regarding the Children’s Internet Protection Act on Learning.com, digital citizenship and cyberbullying. Parent resources include short, easy-to-read articles from the commonsensemedia.org website on how to spot misinformation or disinformation. Parent nights presenting this information will be scheduled.
