Central High School Principal Dr. Swade Huff speaks to students on the first day of the 2023-24 school year. Today, Huff spoke to an assembly of students regarding school safety measures after the deadly school shooting at Apalachee High School on Sept. 4. “You all are young adults, and your fears are real. I’m an old adult, and my fears are real,” Huff stated in his remarks. “You see it on TV, you hear it on the news, you see it on social media, but you never expect for it to happen so close. It was not supposed to happen in Barrow County.” Photo from the ODYSSEY Media Group archives
After a threat against CCSD middle schools and the deadly school shooting at Apalachee High School, CCHS Principal Dr. Swade Huff met with students to discuss safety concerns and expectations.
As part of a plan of continued vigilance against threats of violence in the wake of the deadly school shooting at Apalachee High School on Sept. 4, Clarke Central High School administrators and security officers met with students to explain the steps being taken to ensure their safety.
CCHS administrators held two assemblies in E.B. Mell Auditorium between 10:20 and 11:40 a.m. to address the issue, with Principal Dr. Swade Huff and Lead Campus Security Officer Pecos Williams speaking, among other administrators and security personnel, to a hushed crowd of students.
“If you see something, say something. If you hear something, say something,” Huff said. “We need your help to make sure Clarke Central High School is a safe space to learn.”
Huff and Williams spoke about CCHS security procedures, stressing the importance of being on time to class and not opening the building’s outer doors. Huff also informed students that a lockdown drill would take place next week and outlined the administration’s expectations for that drill. Listen here to their full remarks.
“If you see something, say something. If you hear something, say something,”
— Dr. Swade Huff,
Clarke Central High School Principal
The speakers’ words were comforting to some students, like sophomore Mariah Yancey.
“I feel like (the assembly) was positive because of what happened (on) Wednesday,” Yancey said. “We needed to hear that so we could take some positive steps.”
The assemblies, which were supposed to have occurred at all Clarke County middle and high schools, came in light of an individual being taken into custody after admitting to making threats against CCSD middle schools, according to Clarke County School District Superintendent Dr. Robbie P. Hooker’s email to CCSD families earlier today.
The Clarke County School District emailed CCSD families regarding an individual who made threats against CCSD middle schools being taken into custody. PDF courtesy of the Clarke County School District
According to the email, the CCSD received tips from staff, parents and students regarding the threat posted on social media yesterday evening, Sept. 5. They notified the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, who then notified the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who helped track down the individual.
“As we have shared before, we take every tip seriously and will continue to do so,” CCSD Superintendent Dr. Robbie P. Hooker stated in the email. “We will also ask our students to keep their eyes and ears open and share with their parents, teachers, counselors or the CCSD Tip Line any information they encounter concerning threats to our school community as many did last night.”
An individual was taken into custody by Athens-Clarke County police this morning after admitting to making threats against Clarke County School District middle schools. Photo by Wyatt Meyer
The CCSD isn’t alone in having received these threats. According to the Athens-Banner Herald, a Jackson County teen was arrested for threats, while the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office put out a news release on Facebook stating two Oconee County Middle School students had been referred to the Department of Juvenile Justice for threats of school violence.
For Huff, the events at AHS and subsequent threats can be prevented if students and staff avoid becoming desensitized to the danger.
“We can take appropriate steps to minimize (the threat of violence) here at Clarke Central and here in the Clarke County School District if we are vigilant,” Huff stated.
