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Parents claim they have been “left in the dark” by a Waikato college over its handling of a threat yesterday morning.
And despite the school closing today due to an alleged second threat, police say they’re not aware of any new threat.
Hauraki Plains College received the first threat yesterday morning, which it described as “an anonymous video circulation that contained specific threats of harm”.
The school was not placed in lockdown, but some parents received a text message at lunchtime saying there had been a threat and police were handling the situation.
“We are appropriately managing the risk. Some parents have collected their students, and you can do so via the main office,” the school’s principal said.
“I will update you as soon as I have more information.”
Hauraki Plains College confirmed a threat had been made to the school in a statement to the Herald.
“School received a potential threat. Police have dealt with the matter. No lockdown required.”
The school board has since admitted not all parents received a text message alerting them to the incident, and that they would look into the issue.
But parent Lisa, who asked for her last name not to be used, felt parents had been “left in the dark” and she was speaking with at least 12 other parents concerned about the incident.
“They have no right to not inform us of something like this,” she said.
“The parents didn’t have any kind of say in the wellbeing of their children.”
A teacher allegedly told kids specific things about the threat, she said.
“These kids were really scared. One lady just said her boy just took off, ran to a friend’s house.”
The school told the Herald it had followed the advice of both police and the Ministry of Education.
Hauraki Plains College received the first threat yesterday morning.
Last night, the Hauraki Plains College board sent a letter to parents addressing concerns about how the threat was handled.
“In response, we immediately consulted with the police and followed their expert direction. For the safety of our students and staff, the police controlled the nature of communications from the school, which meant that we were restricted in what we could share at the time.”
The letter says police questioned a person of interest who lived outside of the region of the school, so police advised it was “not necessary to enter a full lockdown at the college”.
Yesterday, police confirmed they were speaking to a young person about the incident and the situation was no longer a concern.
School closed over second alleged threat
In the letter to parents, the college board said they had decided to close the school on Friday after it “received another threat”.
“While we are unable to verify its legitimacy at this time, the details have been provided to the police, and we are awaiting further instruction,” the letter said.
“We must take threats seriously but acknowledge they are unsubstantiated at the time of writing. This decision was not made lightly, and we will provide further updates as soon as we are able to share more information.
“We understand that this situation may cause concern, and we appreciate your support and understanding.”
However, Waikato police said they were “not aware of any new threat having been made relating to the school” and referred questions back to the school.
Hauraki Plains College, its board of trustees and principal have been contacted for comment.
Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.
