School closing initiated from Safe2Say

On January 26, the Milton Area School District faced a shooting threat. The school board and Milton Police Department were made aware of the threats before the start of the next school day through the Safe2Say Something tip line. 

Milton issued a school safety closure at 6:29 a.m., while police tracked down the source of the threat. The student was identified by Safe2Say investigators, taken into custody and faced juvenile charges, according to NewsWatch 16 (WNEP).  

Milton has been using Safe2Say since January of 2019. Safe2Say Something is an anonymous tip line which is coordinated through the state of Pennsylvania. Using the app or the website, a student can anonymously report bullying, harassment, conflict, parental issues, self-harm/suicidal ideations and other threats.  

“The report goes to a call center… in Harrisburg through the Department of Pennsylvania that is manned 24 hours a day seven days a week,” said Co-Principal Mr. Andrew Rantz.  

School Safety Coordinator Ms. Catherine Girton added Safe2Say is linked to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office.  

“When a tip is entered, it is processed by Safe2Say Something and categorized as a life-safety tip or a non-life safety tip. Then the tip is distributed to everyone on that school districts Safe2Say Something team through text and email,” she said.  

Mr. Rantz added the person who receives the report acts as an intermediary between the received tip and the relevant school district, as well as the local police department in that area. 

If a tip comes through between 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. that is deemed non-life threatening, it is put into a queue that will release to administrators and resource officers at 6 a.m., said Mr. Rantz. He added that between 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., there is someone who is always “on-call” in the district. 

According to Mr. Rantz, nine district administrators take turns being the Safe2Say contact person. The tip will come through immediately to the person who is on-call in the district.  

“We have a way to show who is on-call for that week. We upload it to the Safe2Say system,” he added. “They have the personal cell phone number, and that person gets a direct call from Safe2Say in Harrisburg saying ‘You need to check out this tip line, here’s what’s going on, how can (Safe2Say) be of assistance, etc.’”  

“Although not on-call, Dr. Bickhart, all three Student Resource Officers, Dean of Students and the Milton Borough Chief of Police receive all tips,” added Ms. Girton. 

If necessary, not only could the Milton Borough Police Department get involved but also the state police, EMT/ambulance, crisis services, social workers and mental health workers could also get involved, explained Mr. Rantz. 

Ms. Girton has access to all Safe2Say reports as the district program lead of Safe2Say Something. She said during school hours, the deans of students handle the reports, but after school hours, the on-call administrator becomes the lead regardless of the building the report is connected to.  

According to Mr. Rantz, if the person on-call received a tip at 2 a.m. saying a student was going to hurt themselves, they are going to call the Milton Police and order a wellness check to the house of the student.  

“The police will go right to that house, they are going to knock on the door, and they are going to talk to the people,” said Mr. Rantz. “If they feel its necessary, they may call an ambulance to take that student over to Geisinger to be checked out psychiatric-wise, mental health-wise.”  

 Mr. Rantz said that for the 2022-2023 school year, there have been 71 Safe2Say tips submitted district wide. For the 2021-2022 school year there were a total of 50 tips submitted district wide. He added that data does not provide the number of tips submitted between 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., but the school likely does not receive more than six nighttime reports each year.   

Anytime a threat is reported where someone could potentially be a threat to themselves or to others, it will be taken seriously, and the proper authorities will be alerted, said to Mr. Rantz.  

“We are going to get everybody involved who needs to be involved,” he added.  

Mr. Rantz said that Safe2Say is a good outlet for students to report threats, bullying or harassment. However, those types of reports need specifics to be dealt with properly. According to Mr. Rantz, if someone were to anonymously report that they were being bullied without letting it be known who they are, it becomes difficult to address.  

“I think over the course of four years now, I think we are at a point where I don’t believe Safe2Say is abused. I don’t think people are submitting tips that are an inappropriate use of Safe2Say,” added Mr. Rantz.  

According to Mr. Rantz, the school does not get many reports anymore, and for a report to come through at night is rare. When they do come through, they more than likely have some legitimacy to them, he said.  

“I think they all have a legitimate reason for reporting them, even if they turn out to be nothing. I think people are using it for the correct reasons,” he added.