Two R2 high schools will finish the week out virtually following threats

Four Richland District 2 schools — Spring Valley High School, Richland Northeast High School, Dent Middle School and Muller Road Middle School — have been targeted with threats in the last three days.

“This is not a game. It’s not a joke,” said Greg Turchetta, chief officer of communications for Richland 2. “It’s a crime.”

The district didn’t share details of the ongoing police investigations, including the content of the threats, at a news conference on Thursday. But Turchetta said officials will share what they can when they can.

“This has been very traumatic. It’s unnerving,” said Richland 2 interim superintendent Nancy Gregory. “Know that we have the best interest of our students, our families and our staff and we’ll continue to make the decisions that are best for them.”

R2 board chair Lindsay Agostini said the board is prepared to put policy and funding in place to keep schools safe.

The two middle schools were put on “secure status” Thursday morning. They were cleared in less than 30 minutes, Turchetta said.

However, students at Spring Valley and Richland Northeast will continue e-learning until the end of the week after being evacuated several days in a row. Turchetta said the district is unsure about next week.

Turchetta called the situation at Spring Valley “more complex” than those at the other schools, but would not clarify. Threats have been made against Spring Valley for the last three days. Richland Northeast was threatened on Wednesday and Thursday.

Three Lexington 1 schools — Lexington High School, Lexington Technology Center and River Bluff High School — were also evacuated Thursday morning after some employees received threatening emails, district spokeswoman Libby Roof previously told The State. The emails were turned over to law enforcement and the district decided to get students out of the schools and switch to an e-learning day.

White Knoll High School was also investigated for a potential threat.

No credible threats have been found, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.

“To those who are doing this, please stop,” Turchetta said. “You’re impacting our schools in a way that’s harming students and that’s the bottom line.”