This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Park City School District officials on Tuesday were dealing with parental anger and angst after announcing increased police presence on a campus due to an unspecified threat.
District spokeswoman Molly Miller acknowledged that the district had been aware of the threat, which mentioned that date of May 3 in particular, since last fall. However, district patrons were not notified of the issue until Superintendent Ember Conley released a brief statement on the district's website (http://www.pcschools.us/), and in emails to parents, about 10 p.m. Monday.
Conley stated that Park City police were notified of the threat — reportedly from a current student, aimed at teachers and administrators at the Park City Learning Center — immediately after it was received in October.
Police have since "worked directly with the administration to take all necessary precautions to keep our students safe," Conley wrote.
PCPD Capt. Phil Kirk said Tuesday that officers would be at the alternative high school's campus at 2400 Kearns Boulevard, and patrolling other schools, throughout the day.
"We are working with the school district, Summit County Sheriff's Office and Park City Fire Department [in] maintaining the school's safety plan," Kirk said.
However, neither the district nor police would further detail those precautions.
The student who made the threat was not allowed to attend classes on Tuesday, district officials confirmed, but they would not further detail the student's status or the nature of any disciplinary measures being taken.
"Because we didn't want to leave people wondering what was going on, we decided to issue tonight's statement in an effort to reassure the community of student safety," Miller said, adding that rumors of the threat had begun to spread prior to Conley's statement.
Miller allowed that the statement was "very vague," but she insisted the district "feels 100 percent sure that our kids are safe. If there was a hint of anything that would compromise that, [Conley] would cancel classes immediately."
Miller added: "I absolutely understand the anger and frustration about the late notice and I welcome the feedback." She posted her email (mmiller@pcschools.us) for that purpose.
Much of that feedback came in the form of a torrent of comments posted on the district's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/parkcityschools/?fref=ts).
Merilee Dazell Riely asked school officials to "please address the rumors and or facts about exactly what the threat is ... I don't need to know names but I should have a right to decide if my child is safe to go to school tomorrow. Please give parents credit — we are not uneducated crazies — we can make smart decisions if informed."
Added Shannon Lawrence Mueller: "I've emailed Dr. Conley directly, as well as this post. This communication is absolutely unacceptable!!!!!"
Twitter: @remims