Dear Parents/Guardians,
The safety of our students and staff is one of our primary concerns and any threats of violence, even if deemed not credible, are taken very seriously. North Union has not received any credible threats, however, after several recent school tragedies across the United States we felt it was important to remind you about our safety initiatives.
Please know that all threats against our students and staff are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated through our partnership with local law enforcement.
Threats against schools are treated very seriously, and students who are determined to have made such threats face consequences through our school’s Code of Conduct, as well as potential legal, financial, and criminal consequences.
This is an opportune time to discuss this situation with your children and emphasize that there are severe consequences of such actions, even if the threat is made in jest. Please remind your children about the importance of reporting any suspicious or potentially threatening activity to an adult as soon as possible. The Ohio School Safety Center (OSSC) partnered with the Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police to create awareness of this issue through a video PSA called
Joining Together for School Safety please watch it with your child.
The OSSC provides an anonymous reporting system, the
Safer Ohio School Tip Line (844-723-3764) to report concerns for safety. Crisis response professionals are available 24/7 to assist with getting concerns to local law enforcement and schools for investigation. You can call, text, use the Safer Ohio smartphone app or even submit via the webform to report concerns.
In addition to the OSSC, North Union Local Schools also provides an anonymous reporting tool that can be used to reach our administrators about a wide variety of issues including threats and bullying.
“Stay Safe, Speak Up” is the tool that we use for this and is accessible through our website and our mobile app (Quick Links>Student Safety Reporting).
Together we can all make the difference!
Sincerely,
Justin Ufferman
Superintendent for North Union Local Schools