“I Am Shooting up the School” - Petition to Cancel Classes in Barrington Contains Alleged Threat

“I Am Shooting up the School” - Petition to Cancel Classes in Barrington Contains Alleged Threat

A student at Barrington High School has started a petition to make classes virtual after a threat was made on Monday — with an alleged photo of what was written on a girls’ bathroom stall. 

“I am shooting up the school on 12/21 with my dad’s pistol,” is contained in the photo.

As of Tuesday morning, the petition has garnered over 1,500 signatures, demanding that school officials cancel classes and make learning remote until they determine who was behind the threat. 

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The petition also makes more demands -- and takes school officials to task for their handling of the situation.

 

Petition Takes School Officials to Task

The student-led petition was started after Barrington officials communicated the threat with the community on Monday. 

It states as follows:

"On December 13, 2021, dozens of students texted their parents to inform them of a school shooting threat. A student had written in a girls' bathroom stall: "I am shooting up the school on 12/21/21 with my dads [sic] pistol."

It took the administration hours to write parents themselves, simply informing them that "all threats are taken seriously" and the "Barrington Police Department is conducting a full investigation."

Following the recent shooting at a Michigan high school that killed four students, it is appalling that the administration has yet to suspend in-person classes until the entirety of the situation is sorted out.

Living in a time in which school shootings are commonplace, the administration must take this seriously, not by taking superficial steps. The following measures should be taken:

1. All classes are moved to virtual learning or canceled until the individual who wrote the threat is identified and no longer attending the school.

2. The student who wrote the threat is suspended and not allowed to return to school.

3. A clear screening plan to prevent this individual or others from carrying weapons onto school premises is implemented. 

4. An explicit plan of action is communicated to parents and students. 

Students should feel safe in their classrooms, but this administration's barren response has left everyone on edge. If we feel that we are in danger by attending school, we cannot learn. For the sake of the physical, mental, emotional, and academic well-being of all Barrington students, the administration must take action."

Neither Barrington High School Principal John Hurley nor Superintendent Mike Messore was available for comment at time of publication.