Earlier this month, a youth violence prevention program run by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General was weaponized against two schools in the Quakertown Community School District.

            Messages left on Safe2Say Something, an anonymous tip line, led to a one-day closure of Strayer Middle School on March 8 and a lockdown at Quakertown Community High School on March 10. On both days, the principals called for virtual synchronous instruction, according to Gary Weckselblatt, the district's director of communications.

            School Resource Officers Bob Lee and Brian Hendrzak are spearheading an ongoing investigation, according to a March 19 post by Nancianne Edwards, the district's assistant superintendent. She expressed confidence that the individuals responsible for the disruption will be identified and that the district's schools are safe.

            According to Superintendent Bill Harner, administrators closed the middle school after receiving a message during the evening of March 7 threatening harm to specific staff and faculty members, along with students of the school. A few days later, the district received another tip that required a lockdown at the high school and delayed the release time for the building and the bus schedules for the rest of the district. 

            At 11:25 p.m. on March 11, near the end of the school board meeting, the high school was threatened again on the same format. Without adequate time overnight to ensure the high school would be safe to open, it was recommended by law enforcement to close the high school for live instruction on Friday.

            The third false tip led to a meeting between the platform's chief administrator from the AG's office, investigators from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, other local law enforcement officials and the superintendent at Quakertown Borough Hall, according to a March 14 post on Harner's blog.

            "Please know that each action we have taken, whether it be locking down a building or closing it, has been made in consultation with our law enforcement partners, and with the safety of students and school employees at the forefront," Edwards wrote.