Penn Hills School District to have increased police presence due to threat

Penn Hills School District will have increased police presence after receiving a social media threat.

The district sent students an email Monday night alerting them about the message. The correspondence said the post referenced potential violence at Linton Middle School on Wednesday.

Superintendent Nancy Hines said Penn Hills police officers will be present at all district schools through Friday. All schools were notified about the incident because families may have students at multiple schools, she said.

“While the latest threat has been deemed not credible by our law enforcement partners, we are grateful that Chief (Ronald) Como and his team understand the uneasiness that remains,” Hines said.

She said police will continue to investigate the matter.

Calls made to the police department were not immediately returned to the Tribune-Review.

Hines said she understands if students decide to stay home following the news, and the district will not penalize them for it. The letter asked for a written excuse or email referencing concerns about the social media threat.

“As we have done in the past, Penn Hills School District acknowledged the potential threat last night but also made clear we respect the choice of individual families to decide whether or not to send their students to school for the remainder of this week, given the general sense of uneasiness felt across the U.S. at this time,” she said.