Weapons, threats lead to increased police presence at local schools

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Weapons, threats lead to increased police presence at local schools
GRAPHIC COURTESY VOLUSIA COUNTY SCHOOLS

Following recent incidents where students brought weapons to DeLand High School, University High School and other local schools, students and parents can expect a greater presence of law-enforcement officers on campus, city officials said.

The announcements from city leaders came after a number of incidents, including one in September in which a University High School student injured another with a knife during a fight, followed several days later when a DeLand Middle School student brought a firearm to school

Since then, several schools have temporarily gone on lockdown to allow for law-enforcement officers to verify the validity of threats of violence reported through FortifyFL, an anonymous, online platform where students and faculty can report potential threats on campus.

“In all of these incidents over the past few weeks, Volusia County Schools officials, DeLand Police and Volusia Sheriff’s deputies have acted swiftly in their response to keep our children safe,” DeLand Mayor Chris Cloudman wrote in a social media post. “As such, community members will likely see an increased presence of officers and guardians over the next several days at our area schools.”

Deltona Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. took a similar tone and urged parents to do their part.

“We will not accept violence, dangerous behavior, and the general disruption that has impacted our schools in Deltona in the past couple of weeks,” Avila wrote on social media. “Talk to your children, watch what they are doing, monitor their social media, check their rooms and vehicles for prohibited items and keep an open dialogue with them regarding what is right and what is wrong.”

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