FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - After several students were arrested after making threats toward Broward schools, the county’s superintendent is reminding parents and students that those threats are being taken very seriously.
“It’s a crime when you make a threat to our schools, it is definitely not a joke,” said BCPS Superintendent Howard Hepburn.
On Monday, Hepburn said that making threats to schools is a crime and that it can alter a student’s life.
“One bad decision can ruin or change a young person’s trajectory for the rest of their life,” he said.
Hepburn’s comments come after a 14-year-old girl was arrested over the weekend for threatening multiple schools across Broward County.
The teenager remains in custody after her hearing on Monday was postponed.
In that exact same courtroom, just minutes before, another teen was accused of posting threats towards Northeast High School in Oakland Park.
According to the teen’s family, he’s a good kid who has a 3.0 GPA.
However, after his alleged threat, he might not be allowed back to the school.
“He will be recommended for expulsion and he will not be able to return to Northeast High School,” said a district representative.
Those two teens weren’t the only ones who were accused and arrested for threatening schools.
Last week, an 11-year-old was arrested and charged with making a bomb threat at Somerset Academy in Deerfield Beach, which caused the entire school to be evacuated.
Three Broward schools faced threats last week as well as two others in Miami-Dade.
This latest trend has gotten to the point where sitting judges are begging children to think before they act.
“If you are charged and found guilty, you will, ultimately, be facing up to three years of confinement in a lockdown facility,” said Judge Elijah Williams.
School leaders said the best prevention is a conversation at home, so that children understand just how devastating a threat can be.
“We really want to emphasize to our parents have those sit downs conversation, those serious chats, with your children just to make sure they understand the gravity of these situations,” Hepburn said.
Posting these kinds of threats is a felony in the state of Florida, officials said.
The 14-year-old girl is due back in court next week. The other teen who made threats to Northeast High School is due back in court later this week.
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