Before school started this morning, Uintah School District became aware of a threat made toward Vernal Middle School.
Uintah Schools Superintendent Rick Woodford immediately spoke with Vernal police. The superintendent learned the threat had already been investigated back to its source and was unsubstantiated. Vernal police told the superintendent the possible threat was specific to Vernal Middle School only. No other schools were mentioned.
A message was drafted by the district and sent to all VMS parents/guardians using the SchoolMessenger system at 6:47 a.m. The district also posted information on its Facebook and Instagram pages at 7:03 a.m. A later check of the SchoolMessenger system showed that the email and call to parents/guardians failed to go out to all the intended recipients. The district is working to identify why this happened.
Rumors circulating on social media have falsely claimed that there were also threats made against Uintah Middle School and Uintah High School. The only school mentioned in the threat investigated by Vernal police was Vernal Middle School.
There are no active threats to any Uintah School District schools. As a precaution, however, law enforcement will have an additional presence throughout the day at VMS, UMS and UHS.