Threat in bathroom prompts extra security at Southeast High

Southeast High School will have extra security on hand Friday after a threat was discovered in a school bathroom, district officials said Thursday night.

Terri Moses, executive director of safety services for Wichita public schools, said she could not specify the nature of the threat or when it was discovered.

A student discovered the threat and reported it to administration, according to a news release from the district.

“We talk to our students all the time that if they see something they think is inappropriate – in this case it clearly was – to notify staff,” Moses said at a news conference Thursday night. “See something, say something.”

Threats have been reported at Wichita-area high schools multiple times this fall – South High School and Maize High School are two examples.

Moses said awareness of school threats has increased in recent years.

“I think that we are being more open about it,” she said. “I know when I went to school, things were scrawled on bathroom walls. They were generally handled administratively, and there was very little proactively done to deal with a safety situation in regards to it. It was pretty much, it’s there, it’s removed. That was about it. Now we realize with the incidents that are happening nationwide, we have to step up and deal with them. We take all these threats very serious.”

All classes and evening events will go on as scheduled on Friday.

Moses said that as of now, she doesn’t think people will be in danger Friday, but that students and staff should remain “situationally aware.”

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Threat in bathroom prompts extra security at Southeast High."