NOTE: The latest update to this post was published at 4:27 p.m. Sept. 9, 2024. The original post was made at 3:41 p.m. Sept. 8, 2024, and has been updated several times.
Marion Police Department has confirmed publicly via their Facebook page that they have two juveniles in custody after the online threats reported earlier. Marion Community Schools is thankful for the swift action of law enforcement in this investigation.
Marion Community Schools does not tolerate such conduct. A threat of illegal conduct can be met with a disciplinary response up to and including expulsion. (MCS Rules, Consequences, and Supports are included as part of our student handbook, available on our website here.) We cannot share details about specific disciplinary action for individual students.
Marion Community Schools takes all reports of threats seriously. Safety of our students is top priority.
MCS was made aware of threatening social media posts Sunday afternoon claiming there was a threat against McCulloch Junior High School, and an investigation was started immediately. We were subsequently also made aware of an additional post that named Justice Intermediate School.
As in any such situation, MCS administrators worked closely with local law enforcement. We are committed to a safe and healthy learning environment and would not bring students or staff into a situation we believed to be unsafe. An investigation is under way. Out of an abundance of caution Extra officers were stationed at our school buildings on Monday, Sept. 9, and there were extra police patrols in the area as well. Any questions regarding the arrests should be directed to Marion Police Department.
We would like to take this opportunity to urge anyone who notices anything suspicious while at one of our schools or at a school event to contact the nearest MCS employee immediately.
In addition, we ask anyone who knows anything that threatens the safety of our students or schools to contact school or district administrators at any time. Contact information for all of our buildings is available at our website here. Reporting issues directly to our staff is the best way to address problems.
We do also have an anonymous student/school safety hotline available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call or text 765-673-7373 or email hotline[at]marion.k12.in.us.
An additional note for our families: We currently use Infinite Campus to communicate important information to our families. Please make sure that your contact information and communication settings in Infinite Campus reflect your current preferences, so that the information we provide reaches you.