Tena Lee

tlee@mtcngroup.com

Updated: 5:20 p.m.

Ellis Middle School Principal Darren Frank sent the following email to that school’s parents late in the day on Thursday:

“I wanted to address an incident that many of you may have heard about recently. Hendersonville High School acted quickly to address a threat against their campus stating there could be an incident tomorrow, Oct 31. Please know with 100% certainty that Ellis Middle School was never part of or connected to this incident. But since we share campuses, and many families have brothers and sisters that attend both schools I want you to know that your child’s safety and peace of mind is my ultimate priority. Local law enforcement has conducted a thorough investigation and out of an abundance of caution, the Sumner County Sheriff’s Department and Hendersonville Police have plans for heightened security on both campuses Friday.”

Previously reported

There will be an additional police presence at Hendersonville High School on Friday after school officials discovered threatening graffiti on a bathroom wall.

Principal Bob Cotter notified parents of the incident on Wednesday via email.

“I wanted to address an incident that many of you may have heard about today,” he says. “Graffiti was found in a girl’s restroom on campus stating, ‘I am shooting this school up at 10/31/14.’ Local law enforcement has conducted a thorough investigation and they have determined that there is no credibility to this threat. However, out of an abundance of caution, I will be meeting with our Director of Schools, the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office and Hendersonville Police to discuss plans for heightened security on campus Friday.”

Schools spokesman Jeremy Johnson said on Thursday that Cotter and Director of Schools Del Phillips were meeting with representatives from the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office and the Hendersonville Police Department to discuss the threat and provide extra police protection on Friday.

Johnson said the graffiti incident was investigated by Sumner County Sheriff’s Office deputies who oversee the school resource officer program. The officers, he added, determined through their standard threat assessment procedures that students do not appear to be in danger.

“Again, we don’t think there’s any validity to this,” Johnson said. “However, we want every parent to feel safe. We want to have a very visible police presence.”

There will also be additional security at Friday’s football game against Station Camp High School, according to Johnson. That game will be held at Station Camp.

Cotter’s email was also posted on the Sumner County Schools and Hendersonville High Facebook pages where several parents expressed concern that they didn’t receive the email.

Johnson encourages those parents to contact the school.

“If a parent didn’t receive the email, it’s likely because the school doesn’t have updated contact information for that parent,” he said. “I would urge them to call the school and have that information updated.”

Some parents said via social media that they planned to keep their children home as an extra precaution. Others thanked the school for making parents and the community aware of the situation.

The school is currently in the process of adding a more secure front entrance as part of a $7.5 million addition that is scheduled to be completed by the start of the next school year.

Johnson said it will be business as usual at nearby Nannie Berry Elementary and Ellis Middle schools on Friday.

“We have nothing to indicate that any of the neighboring schools would have issues,” he said.

Reach Tena Lee at 615-575-7116 and on Twitter @tenalee1.