'It could be life altering': Officials share consequences for making a school threat

SANFORD, Fla. - Authorities are seeing an increase in threats made at Central Florida high schools and the consequences can be serious.

Freedom High School and Freedom Middle School in Orlando went on hold today because of social media threats. Many local school districts, including in Orange and Seminole counties, report seeing more threats ahead of Winter break.

The state attorney's office is warning students to think before they act.

"It could be life altering," said Keisha Mulfort with the State Attorney’s Office. "I think a lot of students are seeing things happening, and they’re like well let me give it a go. Some of the threats are serious and some aren't, but the reality is they’re all taken seriously," 

Some threats have been credible while others have not, but either way, there are consequences for making one. 

"The message to the students is to be extremely careful what you say. Because that one decision that you’re thinking, or not thinking properly, can be the difference of confinement or you attending school when the Spring semester starts back up."

So what could a punishment look like? Seminole County Schools says depending on the severity of the threat, it varies from suspension, expulsion, being sent to an alternative school, or facing criminal charges.

"We don’t want to penalize students if they make a mistake, and they’re saying something they don’t necessarily mean, but some of those have different weight to them and different caliber to them so there's different consequence levels," said Michael Lawrence with Seminole County Public Schools. 

In regard to a student having a weapon on campus, Seminole County says it has a zero-tolerance policy, and while it does depend on the situation, a student could face criminal charges.

"If it’s a gun, a weapon, a BB gun, there are serious consequences with that and no gray area," said Lawrence.

The state attorney's office says it has been in talks with Orange County School Superintendent Dr. Barbara Jenkins about programming for students that may find themselves traveling down the wrong path. Mulfort says the programs would teach those students about redirection and transitioning into more positive paths and patterns.

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