From Rapid City to Pine Ridge and across the state in Sioux Falls, schools across South Dakota have dealt with a wave of social media threats to start the academic year.
One single post can put a school on lockdown, and administrators are dealing with the consequences.
With the rapid pace of social media posts, education leaders are often left scrambling to respond to the realities of modern threats to school facilities.
That includes Sioux Falls Superintendent Jane Stavem.
“We are continually working on refining those (safety) practices and being diligent in what we do, but we can never lose sight of the fact that our most important job is educating children," Stavem said. "We have to keep teaching and learning at the forefront of what we do while we deal with all these other social issues that tend to creep into our educational space.”
Sioux Falls is one of many districts to see social media threats amid a spike in reports over the past week. Law enforcement says none of these threats have been deemed credible.
Stavem said she believes the efforts made by many school districts are meaningful steps forward.
“We have secured entrances," Stavem said. "We have a buzz-in system to the front offices. We have safety protocols and practices in place, and all of us have to work hand-in-hand to provide a learning environment that’s as safe as it can be.”
Though the largest challenge facing schools, Stavem said, remains without a clear answer – how to best manage threats from unclear sources.
"We continue to have threats that are made online, and what happens is it becomes very difficult to discern if those are first of all, credible threats, and then where those threats originate from," Stavem said. "A lot of times, they’re from out of state.”
Stavem says students should be wary of posting any threatening messages online, and recommends parents be involved with their children online to best manage their child’s safety.