FLINT COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
923 E. Kearsley Street □ Flint, Michigan 48503 □ Email: [email protected]
April 20, 2023
Dear Southwestern Classical Academy Families,
At Flint Community Schools, the safety and well-being of our entire school community is our highest priority. As you may know, a threat was made against Southwestern Classical Academy on Wednesday, April 19. The building was put into lockdown and classes were canceled today out of an abundance of caution. The police department continues to investigate this matter, and so we have decided to cancel classes at Southwestern Classical Academy tomorrow, Friday, April 21.
While conversations about school safety date back decades, it has become increasingly clear that we are at an inflection point and must address this head-on. This issue is not unique to Flint Community Schools – across the country, threats, both online and in person, are happening at an alarming rate. Over the past few weeks, we have received, reviewed and cleared threats made against scholars, teachers and staff. We take threats against our school community very seriously, and parents and scholars should understand there are legal ramifications to making threats against a school, even when they are made online. If you or your child have any information on the threat that was made at Southwestern Classical Academy this week, we ask that you please contact local law enforcement.
As a district, we are working with our administrators, local law enforcement, safety advocates and Board of Education to address safety. We have already had discussions with our law enforcement liaisons to add more coverage at this building, and we are working with the Flint Board of Education to bolster these efforts further. Again, the safety of our school community is our highest priority, and while our existing safety measures have kept scholars, families, teachers, staff and visitors safe, we are always looking at ways to improve.
It takes a community approach to protect our children, and we ask that you help us reinforce responsible reporting protocols. Thus, we encourage all family members to continue an open dialogue with our scholars about their safety concerns and well-being. It takes a community approach and we ask that you help us inform our scholars about reporting threats responsibly and appropriately, and, when action is required, to contact school officials directly or through the State of Michigan’s OK2SAY tip line at 8-555-OK2SAY or [email protected] if they hear of any potentially dangerous situations.
We apologize for any inconvenience that these cancelations have caused, but when it comes to the safety of our school community, we will not take any chances. If there are questions regarding school safety, including our new safety protocols, please do not hesitate to reach out at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Kevelin Jones
Superintendent
Flint Community Schools