Struthers chief: Schools are safe

School officials sent a letter to parents telling them the schools are safe.

STAFF REPORT

STRUTHERS — Some 400 of Struthers High School’s approximately 600 students stayed home Monday because of a message etched on a boys’ restroom wall last week that some believed indicated a shooting would occur Monday.

In addition, another couple of hundred students were absent from the middle and elementary schools, according to Struthers Police Juvenile Det. Ray Greenwood. The school district has about 2,100 students.

Neither police nor schools Superindendent Robert Rostan would release the contents of the message scratched into the wall, discovered March 27, that led to a search of all student lockers at the high school Friday.

Greenwood said the etching was not racial in nature, but could have been looked at as threatening.

A Struthers student told The Vindicator that the etching read “TEK 4/6.”

Rostan said a suspect has been identified in the matter and the investigation is proceeding. Neither he nor the police would identify the suspect, who Greenwood said is a juvenile. No arrests had been made, and no charges have been filed, the juvenile officer said.

No contraband was found in Friday’s search, conducted by Struthers police with dogs, said Rostan.

The superintendent said the message, which he said was not specific, could be interpreted in different ways, but the district chose to take it seriously.

Rostan issued a press release Monday to dispel some of the rumors circulating through the community.

“We have increased security within the district, and we believe that our students are safe in school. We will advise you of our findings upon completion of the investigation,” he said.

Additionally, Rostan said letters were sent to parents Monday explaining the situation and assuring them that it was safe for them to send their children to school.

Greenwood said the police department placed three officers in the school and had five cruisers patrolling the high school area Monday.

alcorn@vindy.com