Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) – Lincoln Middle School went under lockout protocol Monday morning at eight a.m. after a parent called the school and made threats to school staff, saying she was going to commit violence on the property, said the Syracuse Police Department.
Police immediately responded to the school and then located the parent at her home. The parent, Dawn Torres, was arrested and booked for making a threat of mass harm. The charge is a misdemeanor.
The Syracuse City School District Director of Media, Amanda Hull, says there are better ways to connect with administration if a parent has issues. “There’s different ways to talk to your child’s teacher,” Hull said. “You can go to their principal, you can go to the assistant superintendent…we really hope that people will use all of those different avenues that we offer to get the help that they need.”
The SCSD is continuing to do an internal review of their school. “Student and staff safety is a top priority at our school district and we’re always doing internal reviews and looking at what we can do better,” said Hull.
This threat comes just three weeks after a parent entered Lincoln Middle School and punched a teacher repeatedly. Alicia Colon, a parent of two children in the SCSD says the school district should take accountability for the incidents at Lincoln Middle School and that students should be able to learn in peace. “I think that education is important and nobody in the school, teachers, staff, support staff should be hindered by threats,” said Colon. “I don’t think that that’s something they should have to deal with.”
SCSD and the Syracuse Police department have not connected the incident from yesterday at Lincoln Middle School and the incident from three weeks ago. SCSD says it will continue to treat threats against their schools seriously. “The real reason why children are in school is to be educated and that’s why we are doing the jobs that we’re doing. We will treat all of these factors as real,” said Hull.