Threats of violence prompt Ringgold School District to close Monday, too

Ringgold School District in Washington County will be closed Monday while officials investigate reported threats of violence, district officials told parents in a letter Sunday.

In a letter to parents and guardians, Superintendent Megan Marie Van Fossan said that administrators and district police were alerted to potential threats to student safety. She said school officials are working with district and Carroll Township police to determine the credibility of the threats.

The district, about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, enrolls about 2,800 students across one high school, one middle school and two elementary schools.

Van Fossan said the decision to close all four campuses was made to “provide sufficient time for this work and in an abundance of caution.”

She did not say what the specific threats were.

“Providing a safe and secure learning environment is the top priority of the Ringgold School District, and we take these incidents very seriously,” Van Fossan said in her letter. “Extensive security measures are in place to help us maintain a safe campus.”

Students to do assignments at home

On Monday, the district will be operating on a flexible instruction day, an option usually reserved for weather-related closures that will require students or their caregivers to log in between 6 and 11 a.m. and complete lessons assigned by their teachers from home.

Concerns over the threats first erupted Thursday night, when Ringgold Middle School administrators and district police received a tip through the Safe 2 Say Something program. The tip suggested several people may have been making threats, prompting officials to close schools on Friday, according to district officials.

The letter, posted to the district’s website, urged parents to “take this opportunity to speak to your child about the importance of school safety.”

“We want to encourage students to feel comfortable reporting any information which they may have that compromises their safety and/or the safety of others,” Van Fossan said. “Working together, we can maintain an environment where students are free to focus on learning.”

The Ringgold district’s boundaries spans Carroll, Union and Nottingham townships and Donora, Finleyville, Monongahela and New Eagle.

It’s unclear who may be responsible for the threats under investigation.

Police has no immediate comment.