Alongside a strong presence of law enforcement from across the county, the United Independent School District announced during a press conference that it has launched the proactive campaign titled Threats Are No Joke!

The campaign is meant to raise awareness and educate students and parents, as well as the general public, about the long-term consequences of a student who makes a threat that they say was meant as a joke. The district joined this campaign, which started at the Texas School Safety Center, an official research-level center at Texas State University, this fall.

The UISD campaign involves PSAs, a video titled “Words Matter” that will be shown to younger students, posters at every campus and social media presence. Available resources also include parent guides and teacher guides about how to talk to children about threats and other inappropriate comments.

Board President Javier Montemayor, Jr. said that the district spends a lot of time and effort dealing with threats on a regular basis.

“There is not a day that has gone by that we do not have threats made at our campuses or at some of our facilities coming from elementary students to middle school students to high school students,” Montemayor said at the Tuesday press conference held at the Student Activity Center. “It is very taxing, it’s very trying for our school district but we have an obligation to investigate every single one of these threats.”

 

“Our police departments have to go out into the community and we talk to the parents, we visit their homes, we do the whole assessment and that takes a lot of time and effort when children are simply playing around. It’s not going to stop until somebody is prosecuted and until somebody is jailed will that message be clear,” Montemayor said.

 

Webb County Assistant District Attorney Rogelio Soto, Jr. said, “Let us be the first to say that when it comes to children, we don’t mess around. When it comes to threats, there is no time to mess around. At our office, Mr. (Isidro “Chilo”) Alaniz has the strong belief that we will treat every threat as real regardless of whether it was intended as a joke. It will be treated as real until proven otherwise.”

Superintendent Dr. Gerardo Cruz thanked the law enforcement agency representatives for attending- from Webb County Sheriff’s Office, Laredo Police Department, Webb County Attorney’s Office, Laredo Independent School District Police Chief Doreen Hale, United ISD Police Captain Bernardo Lopez and Public Information Officer Sylvia Abrego, and Assistant District Attorney Rogelio Soto Jr. Dr. Cruz also thanked District 6 Board Member and Secretary Michelle Molina, District 7 Board Member Dianelle “Dianely” Martinez and Montemayor for their attendance.

“These threats are no joke … Some people may say it’s playground talk or I was just kidding but there are serious consequences. It may turn out that it was an innocent joke but that subpoena record will follow that child for the rest of his life. Choose your words carefully,” Dr. Cruz said.

He said that every threat is investigated thoroughly and officers are putting themselves on the line when they do home assessments.

The district has received approximately 50 reports that have been investigated and after a thorough investigation by the United ISD Police Department and Administration, none of them have been deemed to be a credible threat.

 

"Last year we had 150 for the whole year so with the rate of these threats coming in, we are on pace to reach over 300 by the end of the year,” said Mike Garza, Associate Superintendent of Administration and Operations services. “I believe that there are several factors that have contributed to the increase in reports," Garza said. "One major factor is that our students, staff, and community are doing an amazing job of following the See Something Say Something recommendations.  We want to thank the individuals who have reported these concerning behaviors or comments.”

 

Students who want to report a threat can notify a trusted adult, teacher, administrator or law enforcement. These reports can also be submitted through our online reporting system which can be found on the district website (uisd) in the Report a Threat tab.

 

To access the parent and teacher guides resources that offer advice on starting conversations with students, please go to: ( txssc )

Webb County Assistant District Attorney Rogelio Soto Jr. discusses the long-term consequences that can result from threats, even those not deemed credible

United ISD Board President Javier Montemayor Jr. talks about the problems associated with threats, including those that are not credible

United ISD Superintendent Dr. Gerardo Cruz addresses concerns rising from threats