MVHS students sheltered in place for the second time in a month after an anonymous threatening email was sent to administrators on Monday, Dec. 9.
Principal Ben Clausnitzer made the initial announcement for the shelter-in-place over the PA system at 8:55 a.m. Students were kept in their first period classrooms until another PA announcement was made at 9:48 a.m., releasing students from school at 9:55 a.m. The 9:48 a.m. announcement also confirmed that the campus had been swept and deemed secure by local sheriffs who would remain on campus. Clausnitzer then sent an email at 12:59 p.m. saying that students were released due to the disruption and concern caused by the threat.
This email threat comes after a prior shooter threat was made to MVHS a month ago, amongst other threats to Bay Area schools including Cupertino High School, Palo Alto High School, Gunn High School and more. There is currently no reported connection between the MVHS incidents.
All after-school and extracurricular activities have been canceled and school is scheduled to resume on Tuesday, Dec. 10. This has left athletes and others searching for alternatives, including Boys Varsity soccer, who have rescheduled their home game against Valley Christian High School to be an away game, and MVHS Cheer and Dance Team, who have organized practices off-campus. Senior Rhianna Prendergast, who was in English teacher Lynn Rose’s first period class as a teacher’s assistant, was surprised at the announcement, especially so soon after the first threat.
“I was just chilling in first period and I didn’t expect this to happen,” Prendergast said. “I know we had one in previous weeks and I think this happened because of finals. Leaving school did disrupt my day, but I don’t mind it that much. I know this is a big concern and a big problem.”
FUHSD said in an email at 9:51 a.m. that although the campus was considered safe by the Sheriff’s Office, they acknowledged the distress caused by the threat. Clausnitzer echoed a similar sentiment in his 9:48 a.m. announcement.
“We know that anytime this can happen it can cause distress for everyone involved,” Claustizer said. “We want to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves and each other in these moments.”
According to Associate Superintendent Trudy Gross, FUHSD waited for information from the Sheriff’s Office about the credibility of the threat, then had the discretion to dismiss students. This is because the safety of the students is first priority of FUHSD. The decision to dismiss was made after considering the disruption caused by the email.
“We would like to continue, certainly, but we’re not sure that students and teachers are in the place at that point where they can productively continue for the day,” Gross said.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is released.
