In the early morning of February 23, St. Francis Area Schools parents, students and staff awoke to an automated message from Superintendent Troy Ferguson alerting them to an alleged threat of violence against a school in the district, which prompted him to close schools and cancel activities for the day.

“I take the position that a threat to one of our schools is a threat to all of them. Sadly, increased violence and tragedy in our schools across the nation has heightened fear and anxiety for us all,” Ferguson stated in the latest automated message that went out at around 6 pm on Friday.

Ferguson said that the safety and security of students and staff is the number one priority.

“We continue to look to improve in that area and we appreciate your support in helping us so far. Improved security at the entrances to all of our buildings was one of the priorities in our recent successful bond referendum,” he said.

He reminded listeners that the district instituted emergency protocol called ALICE training (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) three years ago, which replaced Code Red Drills.

“Today’s events were difficult but the thorough process of investigating a tip resulted in a potential threat to our schools being identified and removed,” Ferguson said. “We encourage all students and staff to continue say something if you see something.

All activities resumed as scheduled and our buildings are now open.