Chatham School Chief Faces Uproar Over Dec. 17 TikTok 'Threat'

CHATHAM, NJ — Potentially raising the anxiety levels of vulnerable students and diminishing the credibility of legitimate threats, were two of several reasons why Chatham’s Superintendent of Schools said he didn’t send out notices about what he called an “anonymous and baseless rumor" from TikTok.

In a letter to families on Sunday about early dismissals the week before the holiday because of a community-wide rise in COVID cases, School District of the Chathams Superintendent Dr. Michael LaSusa also addressed the lack of communications from the district about the cryptic TikTok threat of school violence on Dec. 17 that influenced many school districts and police departments to write about the topic.

He said many parents were disappointed and frustrated with his lack of communications over it, LaSusa referring to the rumor as a “baseless, anonymous, unsubstantiated, non-credible rumor circulating on a social media platform.”

LaSusa first received word about it from unspecified state officials on Dec. 16, he explained in his letter, with their notice stating there was no reference to New Jersey in the threat, the state communications calling it a “non-credible, non-specific rumor that did not constitute a threat.”

The state, he said, didn’t recommend it should be broadcast via a widespread notification, though it did suggest talking to local law enforcement and other school administrators.

Both local police departments, neither additionally addressing the threat themselves on social media, recommended a district-wide notice,” LaSusa added, stating there “are drawbacks to widespread communication on an issue like that.”

One of those, he said, is that it could heighten nervousness in students prone to anxiety.

LaSusa also said it could set a precedence that the district would need to “address other discredited and/or non-specific, non-credible rumors that circulate on social media,” which he said could detract from serious and credible threats.

The schools drill regularly with the local police departments and have full-time police officers stationed within the district. LaSusa said he is consistently in contact with both police departments in the Chathams.

“We treat every rumor or threat on a case-by-case basis, with the absolute and total commitment to keeping our students safe,” he said. “If I believe there is a need to communicate a concern to parents, I will not hesitate to do so.”

For LaSusa’s full letter from Dec. 19, click here.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a local news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.