November 9, 2017
Dear Knox County Families,
We want to make you aware of an incident that occurred overnight that has prompted schools to increase security measures today. During the evening hours on Wednesday, November 8, several anonymous telephone messages were sent with a threat toward Knox County Public Schools.
The safety of students and staff is our first concern. We take all threats of this nature seriously. Local and state emergency response officials have been involved since the first telephone message was received. With support from law enforcement, our campuses have been monitored all morning and no weapons or suspicious packages have been found.
While the vast majority of school threats involve situations where it is a false threat with no weapons being found, we believe that it is appropriate to always notify public safety officials and conduct a thorough scan of the grounds and facility whenever a threat is received.
All threats to our school or students are taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. We are working with officials to conduct a full investigation into the telephone message.
Please discuss the day’s events with your child and emphasize the seriousness of this issue.
Thank you for making the Knox County Public Schools a safe learning environment for our students.
Sincerely,
Kelly Sprinkles
Superintendent