Roanoke County schools changing crisis plans after school threat rumors

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ROANOKE COUNTY (WSLS 10) -  Parents demanded answers from Roanoke County Schools after they said they weren't notified of a possible threat at Northside High School. The county addressed those concerns during Monday night's community meeting.

Roanoke County Schools administrators are now updating crisis policies. Schools spokesperson Chuck Lionberger says the "perception of a threat" is a new concern they are having to address.  They are in the process right now of updating crisis plans to include some of these new types of issues like the rumor of a shooting threat that gets spread around social media.

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"Parents told us that they felt like they should have been notified in advance. We agree and we apologized and so if, hopefully not, if there is a next time we are changing some of our processes to make sure that parents are notified earlier," said Lionberger.

He wouldn't say much about changes to the school crisis plans -- because of safety concerns that could come with making that information public but parents will be notified of threats once information is confirmed.

Changes to the principal and vice principal at Northside High School were also addressed.

"We're going to move forward with kind of the new Northside. We appreciate the parents, students and staff all coming together to try to really start a new chapter," said Lionberger.

Dr. Dan Lyons, former superintendent for Lexington City Public Schools, is the interim principal at Northside High School for the remainder of the school year.  He will be on campus Thursday.


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You can see Jenna weekday mornings at the anchor desk on WSLS 10 Today from 5-7 a.m. She also leads our monthly Solutionaries Series, where we highlight the creative thinkers and doers working to make the world a better place.