Manatee County Superintendent Diana Greene's message to parents after school threats

Greene sends strong message to parents after 9 school threats

Manatee County School District Superintendent Diana Greene sent a message to middle school and high school parents Friday after nine threats were made against schools in a one-month period. Here is the text of her message sent out in English and Spanish:

"This is Superintendent Diana Greene with an important message for all parents, students and staff members in middle schools and high schools in Manatee County.

Any threat of violence made against one of our schools is a very serious offense and will be dealt with in a serious manner.

During the last month, we have had nine different reports of threats of violence against our schools. While all of these reports have been taken seriously, commanding law enforcement and school administrators to spend valuable time and resources to investigate, ultimately none of the threats have been deemed credible.

This past week we had two anonymous threats of violence found in school restrooms at two different schools on the same day. After investigating each incident, again law enforcement deemed both of those threats not to be credible. It is becoming obvious that the point of most of these threats is to disrupt our schools and interrupt the educational process.

That kind of behavior will not be tolerated. We will work diligently with law enforcement to find those responsible for threats of violence against our schools and those individuals will be subject to criminal charges.

In addition, our district's code of student conduct states that threats of committing a violent act -- even if made in jest -- may subject students to suspension, reassignment or expulsion.

I need your help to put an end to these types of threats in Manatee County. Please let your children know that if they threaten an individual or a school they will surely face serious consequences. Working together, we can put an end to this kind of activity. I thank you for your time and for your continued support. Good night."

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 7:31 PM with the headline "Manatee County Superintendent Diana Greene's message to parents after school threats ."