School closes down after students receive airdropped threats of violence in wake of teacher abuse scandal

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A school district in Michigan dismissed classes for the rest of the week after students began receiving threats of violence in the wake of news that a teacher had been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student.

Atherton Community Schools began sending children home from both elementary and high schools at about lunchtime on Tuesday after officials said multiple students had begun to receive air dropped messages on their smartphones that threatened violence against the school.

The superintendent for the school district, which serves the city of Burton, sent a letter home to parents and guardians that alerted them of the situation and informed them that all schools in the district would remain closed for the next three days, so that instructors and administrators could “adequately plan and prepare for the upcoming challenges”.

“As a district we take the safety of our students and staff very seriously,” wrote Superintendent John Ploof in the letter sent home on 25 October. “The stress resulting from these threats along with the recent arraignment of one of our teachers has reached levels that have us extremely concerned.”

The messages that were delivered on students’ phones via airdrop, a feature on iPhones that allows people to send messages to other iOS devices when they are within 30 to 40ft of one another, are being investigated by police, the superintendent said.

This, he pointed out, helped police determine that the threatening messages were likely being sent from somewhere inside the building. As a result, some of the students’ phones have been confiscated for further investigation by authorities.

Students will still be required to make up the missing three days of school at some point in the year, as is mandated by the state, the superintendent noted. But right now, he emphasised, their safety is a priority.

“This is a decision that hasn’t come easily and impacts both students and parents,” he wrote, while underscoring that those responsible would be prosecuted to “the fullest extent of the law”.

The closure comes at particularly fraught moment for the Michigan school district, as it was announced just days ago that a music teacher employed with the high school for the past 30 years had been charged with six counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct.

Genesee Prosecutor David Leyton announced on Monday that 54-year-old Jerry Lee Cutting, who had worked with students between grades five and 12, had been arrested on Friday after school officials and police learned last week that he allegedly had sexual relations with a 14-year-old student.

The school was made aware of these accusations after three of the 14-year-old’s friends came forward to the dean to report the inappropriate relationship, which they alleged began at the end of the previous school year, when the victim had just finished the eighth grade.

“He had been spending an inordinate amount of time with them,” Mr Leyton said at a press conference on Monday while announcing the charges. “And then at some point, it turned into this sexual relationship.”

The 54-year-old served as a band teacher, choir teacher, basketball and softball coach. Because of his wide exposure to students from a large swatch of the school’s population, Mr Leyton said, investigators believe that it is possible that there are other victims but at this moment they are looking at it as an isolated incident.

The school’s superintendent, Mr Ploof, said that he was advised at the close of last week to not discuss the ongoing investigation with the community at the request of Mr Leyton.

On Monday, he expressed how both he and the staff were “devastated” for the victim involved in the case.

“(The staff is) devastated for the victim. They are devastated for the impact that it has on us as a small school system and a community,” Mr Ploof said at Monday’s press conference. “You know, right now we’re all kind of reeling a bit.”

The Genesee prosecutor, the Burton police and officials with the Atherton Community Schools district are asking that if there are any other victims out there, that they should reach out to local police or school officials to report their allegation.

A school community meeting convened on the same day the charges against the music teacher were announced was held for parents and guardians, where many raised concerns about why they hadn’t been briefed earlier about the troubling situation.

“I had four generations in this school and I trusted the school with my kids. And no I’m not trusting anymore,” said parent Tammy Prentice at the Monday night meeting, according to MLive.

Parents in attendance at the meeting, some of whom began calling for the resignation of the district’s superintendent, also alleged that some of the students who knew about the investigation into Mr Cutting’s conduct were told to not discuss the matter with anyone inside or outside the school.

“People must be held accountable,” said Patrick Rice, who has two children enrolled in the school district. “My daughter came to me crying and told me to come here because she says she’d been threatened to be in suspension if she said something or even speak about this man and situation.”

The school district has maintained that Mr Ploof had wanted to sent out a message to parents earlier, but had been warned against doing so by the Genesee prosecutor.

At the same meeting on Monday, a representative from the Atherton Community Schools board of education addressed the public by reading out a prepared statement from the district.

The district wants to act transparently in the process, said Craig Lanter, president of the board, and they will do so by continuing to work with law enforcement while also listening to students through counsellors and social workers.

The Independent reached out to Mr Ploof for comment on the ongoing investigation and the critiques raised by parents but did not hear back immediately.