PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Perrysburg Schools leadership provided "final information" and addressed rumors regarding an investigation into a threat made at the high school on April 15.
The follow-up letter was sent to families, employees and community leaders by Superintendent Tom Hosler on April 22.
The incident on April 15 resulted in three Perrysburg High School students taken to the Wood County Juvenile Detention Center after officials uncovered "preliminary planning" possibly intending to do harm to others. One student was charged with menacing for the alleged threat.
An Anthony Wayne High School student was questioned but not taken into custody.
The Perrysburg Police Department is confident through their investigation and cooperation of some of the students and their families that no one else was involved, according to the letter from Hosler. No additional threats have been made since the first and only threat on April 15.
"Though there is no ongoing threat to safety at our schools, Perrysburg Police and Perrysburg Schools have heightened awareness in the school district because of these unconfirmed rumors and out of an abundance of caution," Hosler states.
Hosler also refers to the unnamed PHS student who reported the threat as both heroic and courageous.
As soon as the threat was reported, a threat assessment process began and the school resource officer interviewed the witness before speaking with the student who made the comment. Within hours, the student was taken into custody.
The students involved in the alleged preliminary plot communicated using the chat app Discord, which allowed for private communication that bypassed school filters and email.
"The school investigation revealed that there had been a handful of emails that were sent using school emails and things stored on the school device," Hosler said Monday. "That led us to sharing the information with the resource officer, who then was able through his law enforcement authority and interrogating other students, led to some apps and some other forms of communication that were away from school."
Hosler writes that next month, PHS leaders will provide more information about the threat assessment process during the regular school board meeting.
The district will continue exploring safety measures like metal detectors and monitoring software. Efforts will also continue to train students to say something if they see or hear something. Staff will also continue to be trained on assessing threats with a team approach.
"The vulnerability assessment we had already planned to conduct school district-wide next school year will be another step towards recalibrating our safety efforts," Hosler writes. "Thank you for all you are doing to keep our community safe, and stay tuned for additional communication on this topic."
Perrysburg Mayor Tom Mackin said that although it's an ongoing investigation and he can't comment about the case, he still wanted to make sure he commended the police department, the school and the students that stepped forward.
"I will comment about how outstanding it is that people came forward and saw something and did something and I think that's a real credit to the people involved, their parents and to the school system," Mackin said.
The first juvenile involved in the alleged plot has a hearing set for April 26 at 3 p.m. while the other two have hearings May 4 at 1 p.m.
It is WTOL 11's policy to not identify juveniles charged with crimes unless they are charged as adults.