‘No Credible Threat to Flagler Schools’ as String of Menaces Take Toll on Students, Parents and Faculty

Last Updated: Wednesday, 8:29 a.m.

Flagler County schools, and particularly Buddy Taylor Middle School, were the target of called-in threats of shootings and bombings for six of the last eight days, including last Sunday when Buddy Taylor was rented, as it commonly is, for church services. That’s left its toll on students, parents and faculty, Superintendent LaShakia Moore said today, with some people asking her why not call off school for the rest of the year, since the last day for students is Thursday. (See: “Baffled and Rattled, Flagler Community, Schools and Cops Grapple with Response to Bogus ‘Swatting’ Disruptions.“)




For one, state law stands in the way of arbitrarily abbreviating a school year. Students have to log specific hours to earn their credits. “But beyond that, we don’t–we can’t–set a precedent or look at the time of year and make decisions that we cannot sustain at other times of the year,” Moore said. “Of course, me, I also don’t want to give anybody the satisfaction of us canceling these things for our our students.”

Graduations for Flagler Palm Coast High School and Matanzas High School are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and evening, as usual at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach. Classes and other activities have gone on as scheduled, to the extent possible, when threats haven’t forced campuses into lockdown or “secure” modes, which require the suspension of activities.

“There is no credible threat to Flagler schools, there’s no credible threat to any of our activities or events that we have scheduled,” Moore said as she updated the School Board late this afternoon on the last two weeks’ jarring disruptions. The threats to the district’s schools, as well as to a private Christian school in Bunnell, echo those made across the state and in other states. “Our staff, our students have done a phenomenal job of responding to our safety protocols.”




And one student at Buddy Taylor Middle allegedly dared a friend in Daytona Beach to copycat the threats and place a threatening call of his own–which the 13-year-old did last Friday, resulting in his arrest. (See: “13 Year Old Arrested in Daytona Beach in Copycat ‘Dare’ to Blow Up Buddy Taylor Middle School.”)

But it all takes a toll.




Brandy Williams, the coordinator of counseling services districtwide, earlier at today’s School Board workshop provided some insights into the faculty’s response to the threats. “It has been a difficult time on our campuses, not just one but several of our campuses,” Williams said. “Our team is dispatched to campuses based on the need. We call it a crisis response. And they are available to students who are in crisis. We kind of monitor what’s going on, we see them in groups, we’ll see them individually, kind of depending on what’s happening for them and how they are reacting and responding.”

It’s the same team that is dispatched when, for example, students and faculty have to deal with grief and the loss of a student, a faculty member or an employee.

Youth Mental Health First Aid helps identify the student who is struggling. “If we have any concerns, we will follow up with family members,” Williams said, “then we also follow up with those students a week later, a day later, depending on kind of what that response looks like. So it has taken a toll on our students and our staff and each other, and I will say that there are a lot of efforts that are going into providing the support for all those individuals on our campuses.”

The district has made special accommodations to excuse students without penalizing them. Absenteeism has been rife in several schools, as reported from employees at individual campuses, though Moore has not provided numbers. And the district may be misinterpreting why parents are keeping their children from attending: it’s not necessarily fear at a possible violent incident. Rather, some parents are upset that their children are being put through lockdown after lockdown.

Our decision has more to do with the undo stress and anxiety for a 7 year old that would come from repeated unfounded threats, not with the district’s response, since I am in agreement and appreciate the seriousness with which they take threats. I also understand that the district and sheriff can not release certain details without encouraging more copycats or playing into the hands of the person making threats. So it’s a double edged sword in that you would want to keep parents and the community informed, but not compromise any progress in any investigations.

“We made the difficult decision to keep our son home the rest of the year,” a parent who is also an employee of the district said, requesting anonymity given the parent’s position. “It’s a shame and a real bummer to end the year on such a note. He’s only 7 and shouldn’t have to be put through lockdowns and secure holds because of someone’s sick idea of a good time.”

The parent added: “Our decision has more to do with the undo stress and anxiety for a 7 year old that would come from repeated unfounded threats, not with the district’s response, since I am in agreement and appreciate the seriousness with which they take threats. I also understand that the district and sheriff can not release certain details without encouraging more copycats or playing into the hands of the person making threats. So it’s a double edged sword in that you would want to keep parents and the community informed, but not compromise any progress in any investigations.”

The superintendent has been visiting schools, including Buddy Taylor.




“We had a parent earlier walk in, and she was nervous,” Moore recalled. “She was nervous, and they were able to reassure her that we’ve done everything in our power to ensure that we’re safe and to ensure that our students have a great event. And it’s great to say that we did just that at all of our schools that had events.” The superintendent was especially thankful for certain school resource deputies–one of them was in the room at today’s workshop–and in the community at large.

“I want to commend you and the entire team for how they handled it,” School Board member Colleen Conklin told the superintendent, but communicating and communicating and communicating not just with parents, but also with our teachers and staff. Your video was spot on [see below] and it was just perfect. So thank you for doing that. And it’s it’s just a shame that we have to deal with that kind of–”

Conklin looked for the right word. The Irish in her–to which she referred moments later–likely wanted to say something like bullshit. Board member Cheryl Massaro spared her the honesty on school grounds and filled in with the more innocuous “nonsense.”

Several more threats were reported on Monday. None were reported today.