Dear Burlington Township Families:
Earlier this evening, I sent an e-notification with the subject line "Important Message Regarding Emails." In this message, I referenced an email that had been sent and noted that the student was safe. Understandably, there was confusion among those parents who had not seen the original email that was sent to all middle and high school students. I sent the notification quickly in order to provide reassurance to the many caring people who reached out to us. I was at my desk around 8:20 P.M. this evening, when this situation began to unfold. I began receiving phone calls, emails and text messages from concerned community members about the welfare of a student. We quickly contacted the authorities who were able to provide assistance. Once we received confirmation that the student was ok, I wanted to provide relief to those who had contacted me and other members of my team.
Now that things are quiet, I am sending this follow up email to provide clarification to all of our families. This evening, a student sent an email to all high school and middle school students indicating the potential for self-harm. No staff members were included on that email. Students reacted immediately by telling their parents, reaching out to staff members and the police. I received dozens of cellphone calls within minutes. The message sent earlier to our families via our Falcon Flyer e-notification was a copy of the email that was sent to our students to reassure them the situation was being addressed. Again, it is important to reiterate that our students acted quickly and were sending emails to various staff members to draw attention to this matter and get help. On a Friday evening, no one in the district is expected to monitor their email and I wanted to provide reassurance to the many concerned high school and middle school students who were reaching out, that the situation was being handled.
I have been asked about removing the emails from the student accounts. The district cannot remove the emails from students accounts. We encourage parents to sit with their child and review their student's district email account and delete the emails in question. We disabled the group accounts that were compromised during this process immediately after my message was sent to all students and staff. Those group emails are not published and are changed occasionally to avoid spam. I hope that this provides clarity to members of our community.
Again, I would like to thank all of you who acted quickly. You all truly make a difference. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. I want to thank the staff members who supported from their homes and those who joined my in the office to handle the situation.
