THURSDAY'S AND FRIDAY'S THREATS AT MARQUETTE ARE NOW BOTH SOLVED. STUDENT HANDBOOK CONSEQUENCES SAY EXPULSION AND CRIMINAL CHARGES POSSIBLE.
Rockwood's superintendent announced Tuesday that they know who made the threats that led to evacuations/early dismissals two days in a row, Thursday and Friday of last week.
Thursday's was a bomb threat on social media. Friday's shooting threat was airdropped to students at school. Because the range for airdrops is only 30 - 40 feet, presumably, that threat came from a student in the school building.
No weapons or explosives were ever found, and no one was hurt.
These images are related to the threats:
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| Thursday's threat at Marquette |
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| Friday's threat at Marquette. |
Authorities said each threat was made by a student. The announcement updates from Rockwood and from Chesterfield police, the last several days, did not address whether it was two different students responsible for both threats, but, it appears that is the case.
In Rockwood's announcement Tuesday, Dr. Curtis Cain said the district takes threats to safety very seriously.
Here's the announcement in its entirety:
Rockwood parents reported students were terrified and are calling for strong consequences for the students who are responsible for the threats.
The district's student handbook says, in part:
"Any threat that includes the mention of a weapon or explosive device will result in 5-180 days out-of-school suspension with a possible recommendation for expulsion and legal authorities may be notified."
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| From page 19 of this year's student handbook, Rockwood. |
PRANK OR CRY FOR HELP?
The incidents have renewed discussions among parents about whether Rockwood is doing enough for student mental health, and whether it's qualified to be involved in managing student mental health at all.
$1.6 MILLION ALLOCATED FOR MENTAL HEALTH ALREADY
The district started an emphasis on mental health in 2021. Is it working?
Roughly a year later, and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent so far, the district says there have been multiple rumors of threats of violence leading up to the two threats resulting in the evacuations last week.
Rockwood will spend $1,682,139.00 in three years on mental health services through two contracts:
The Alive and Well contract, which provides trauma-informed training and sessions related to suicide prevention, runs through June of 2024.
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| Alive and Well mental health contract |
The other is a contract with Hazel Health, Inc., which runs through December of 2024.
From that contract:
"This is a student-assistance program that provides
comprehensive mental and social emotional learning
health for all students in the district. Services include
screening and clinical assessments, teletherapy
sessions, case management/care coordination, and
crisis consultation."
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| Hazel Health mental health contract |
ACADEMICS: SCORES ARE DOWN
Meanwhile, academics are suffering.
Standardized Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test score data shows the percentage of Rockwood students that are proficient or above in core subjects is lower than it was a decade ago.
In some cases, by a lot.
You can see the decade of decline from our previous post, here.
Covid and virtual learning played a role in the 2021 scores, which are the most recent scores made available by DESE, Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The MAP scores from spring of 2022 have not yet been released.
Marquette High school was virtual (not in person) both Monday and Tuesday because of the threats.