Cheltenham School District superintendent Dr. Brian Scriven released a memo stating that the district received “swatting” bomb threats on Thursday, September 21. A “swatting” threat refers to the circulation of intentionally false emergency reports to drive a response team to a given location.

According to the announcement, other schools in Montgomery County were recipients of the threats, and officials believe that it was part of a state and nationwide hoax.

From their announcement:

Dear Cheltenham Community,

Cheltenham was among several Montgomery County school districts to receive “swatting” bomb threats via email today. The Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center, which gathers, analyzes, and shares threat-related information, has no information to indicate these threats are credible. 

As always, we work closely with local law enforcement to assist in these situations, and, after consultation, we believe the email is part of a state and nationwide “swatting” hoax in which the same email was sent to many other schools over the past week. “Swatting” describes false reports being made to drive a response team to a location where there is no emergency.

Please know our top priority is the safety and well being of our students and staff. We will continue to take any and all reports of potential threats seriously. I encourage our students and school community to report anything that constitutes a threat to school safety. Please utilize the Pennsylvania Safe2Say Program, through which reports can be submitted anonymously on the website (www.safe2saypa.org), by calling 844-SAF-2SAY, or through the app (www.safe2saypa.org/download).

Sincerely,
Dr. Brian W. Scriven
Superintendent of Schools

For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.