OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Two West Michigan districts, Jenison Public Schools (JPS) and Three Rivers Community Schools, are closed Friday after threats were made on social media.
This comes as multiple school districts have either canceled classes or investigated threats this week.
JPS sent a letter to parents Thursday night announcing it will be canceling all programs for Friday, Sept. 13.
13 ON YOUR SIDE obtained the letter from a parent, which said the incident stemmed from photos circulating on the social media platform Snapchat. Superintendent Dr. Brandon Graham said the photos appeared to be a copy or screenshot with the text "Jenison" added to them, but did not specify what was depicted in those photos.
The district said it is now working with Michigan State Police and the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office to investigate, and out of an abundance of caution, decided to close all programs at JPS Friday.
You can view the letter sent to parents here:
Three Rivers Community Schools also announced Thursday night it is closing for a second day.
The district closed Thursday due to a threat on social media, and initially announced on its Facebook page that it would reopen on Friday.
But hours later, the district posted it became aware of a new Snapchat post and were investigating. Then, in an update a few hours later, the district announced it would once again be closing Friday.
In the Facebook post announcing Friday's closure, the district wrote, "Three Rivers Community Schools takes this information seriously, and the safety of our school community is important. Additional information related to these threats and the very serious consequences for making threats against a school or other public institution will be shared with the school community tomorrow."
The closures are the latest in a string of incidents across West Michigan.
Byron Center Schools closed Monday due to social media threats and rumors over the weekend. Newaygo Public Schools also announced Tuesday it investigated online threats, but found those threats to be unsubstantiated, and classes were not canceled.