Classes at Riceville closed after threat

Riceville - Following a threat to “shoot up” Riceville Community School, classes were canceled on Thursday (Feb. 22). Law enforcement was in the building Friday and Saturday in an attempt to assure district parents and students, as well as teams visiting the school for Saturday’s District Speech Contest.

According to Supt. Barb Schwamman and official information released on the school’s website, students alerted Principal Cory Schumann of the threat on Wednesday evening (Feb. 21) after seeing it on social media. 

“First and foremost, we’re proud of the students who did the right thing and notified us,” Schwamman said. 

After a preliminary investigation by the Howard County Sheriff’s Department Wednesday evening, school officials used the information available at that time to make the decision not to hold classes on Thursday. 

A number of current students were interviewed by the Sheriff’s Department, according to a press release from Sheriff Mike Miner. “All of the students stated they had observed the former student on a website, chatting with an unknown individual, asking him to shoot up the Riceville school on Thursday morning,” the announcement said.

The former student in question was living in Rochester, Minn. and was questioned by the Sheriff’s Department and the Rochester Police Depart-ment. At that time, the student admitted to asking the unknown person to shoot up the school, but she claimed she also sent the person an acronym message stating “just kidding.”

Law enforcement kept school officials updated about the situation throughout the day Thursday, and in the afternoon, Schwamman and Schumann decided to open the building again on Friday. Sheriff’s deputies from Howard and Mitchell Counties were on hand to ensure safety and to ease the minds of students, parents and staff.

The threat came in a climate of heightened tension nationally, just one week after the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, where 17 students and staff members were killed by a former student.

For more on the Riceville incident, pick up a copy of the Monitor Recorder at the Times Plain Dealer office.

How-Winn Supt. Ted Ihns stated the district has an emergency plan in place, and “It is constantly in review. Our number one priority is the safety of children every day they come to school.”

The doors to the K-8 and high school are locked during school hours. Visitors are supposed to check in at the office. “We don’t want people wondering around, without knowing who they are,” Ihns explained.

He added policies have changed over the past few years  because of school shootings. 

How-Winn is currently using the ALICE protocol for violent intruders. ALICE stands for:

Alert: This is when you first become aware of a threat. Alerts should be accepted, taken seriously and should help you make decisions based on your circumstances.

Lockdown: If evacuation is not a safe option, barricade entry points into your room in an effort to create a secure location. If you are unable to escape:

• Secure the door

• Barricade the door

• Turn out the lights

• Develop a plan to deny the intruder a target (throw books, chairs staplers, etc.

• Be prepared to respond to the attack using real time information.

Inform: Communicate the violent intruder’s location and direction

Counter: Create noise, movement distance and distraction with the intent of reducing the shooter’s ability to shoot accurately

Evacuate: When safe to do so, remove yourself from the danger zone

Times are changing and school officials are changing with them to keep our students as safe as possible.