Post claiming district schools are closed until Wednesday is fake, officials say

A social media post is claiming that Manatee County School District schools will be closed through Wednesday, but school district officials warn the post is bogus.

Just before 3:30 p.m. Thursday, a screenshot of a post on the social media application Snapchat — claiming would be closed through Wednesday — was shared on social media by the school district as a warning that it is a prank. The Snapchat post seems to be a screenshot from channel45news.com, which describes itself as a “prank website.”

“Please help us spread the word that the item below is bogus and false. It was posted as a prank and is apparently going viral.,” the school district announced on social media. “Regardless of the warnings below, we are starting to get calls asking if our schools will be closed. In reality, our schools are open as usual on Feb. 23, 26, 27 and 28.”

The fake post comes after a series of threats against six schools in Manatee County in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County on Valentine’s Day that left 17 students and teachers dead.

This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Post claiming district schools are closed until Wednesday is fake, officials say."