Editorial: APS, Hillerman Set Right Tone on Threat

Albuquerque Public Schools officials — and Tony Hillerman Middle School administrators in particular — deserve credit for how they handled last week’s heartbreaking news that two 11-year-old students planned to “shoot up” the school and commit suicide.

No unnecessary panic. No disruptive lockdown. No opportunity for fellow students and/or parents to freak out and/or target two clearly troubled boys.

Instead, when a smart someone came forward on campus Wednesday with concerns about the purported Dec. 12 plot, the system kicked into high gear in the right way, with police inquiries and psychological threat assessments, counseling referrals and two school suspensions.

And everyone else went to class and on with their lives. District spokesman Rigo Chavez says the second threat assessment was finished Thursday and did not find the boys were imminently dangerous to their peers, so it did not make sense to send or keep students home.

So while some parents wanted to know about the boys’ plans on Wednesday instead of Friday, when the school alerted them by phone in the morning and by letter in the afternoon, what purpose would that have served, exactly?

The Albuquerque Police Department had already gotten involved, the boys were already being questioned and evaluated, and any potential threat to fellow students had already been removed. While no charges have been filed, APS is working to expel the boys.

Getting the entire school community involved early on, before officials determined there was a credible threat, could have exacerbated the situation, inciting needless fear and making the boys a target instead.

Of course parents and guardians need to know their children are safe when they send them off to school. APS and Tony Hillerman officials handled last week’s incident in a manner that puts safety for all students — even troubled ones — first.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.