Superintendent Addresses Threats Received Last Week

(Editor’s Note: This is a statement from Superintendent Dr. Deborah Moran concerning rumors of possible violence at  the school district last Friday. She prepared the statement at the request of the Herald.)

I want to thank our Water Valley faculty that attended school, with their children last Friday, and stayed all day.

I want to thank our school leadership team; Dr. Kitchens, Mr. Babb, Mr. Weekley and again our faculty for being vigilant in understanding and listening to our students.  I want to thank the Water Valley community for their quiet support of our school district.  I know that it took a lot of courage to trust a ‘newcomer’.

I want to thank the Water Valley Police Department and Yalobusha Sheriff Department for their presence on campus Friday.  I want to thank the North Mississippi Herald for allowing us to share our day with the community.  

Finally, thank you to our school board for having confidence in my ability to lead our school district. All of this says to me, once again, that we, as a community, value and support Water Valley School District.

Please know that at no time last week did I or the administration/faculty of Water Valley High School have reason to believe that our students or school was in danger.  During the week we investigated information (rumors/gossip) given to us by students, parents, faculty, community members. We never were given the name of a person that actually made a threatening statement. We followed up on every phone call we received.  Dr. Kitchens, Mr. Babb, Mr. Weekley, and I interviewed many, many students and it was always the same; a friend told me that they heard – – – -, and when we spoke to the friend they said the same thing.  

No one (student, former student, etc.) actually told anyone (student, teacher, and/or administrator) that they had a plan to harm a student or students on any given day of the week at school or anywhere.          

However, due to the concern of many that we may have a ‘situation’ we did develop a Plan A, which we put into place Thursday afternoon. Plan B was to lock down the school at the first sign of danger to a student or the school.  We never had to go to Plan B.

It is easy to say today that I never believed we were in danger. We took every comment seriously. I must say that I listened to my administrators, and based on trust and the information they shared with me, I made the decision to have school and our pep rally last Friday.  

It was my first Pep Rally in our gym and I enjoyed seeing our seniors being recognized and each grade level cheering for recognition that is a tradition for Water Valley School District.

Our district will continue to provide our students with a quality education.  I will continue to treat your child as I would want my child/grandchild to be treated.  We will not allow gossip/rumors to run Water Valley School District.   

Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Moran, Ed. D.
Superintendent