GOOD HOPE — Good Hope High School administrators and Cullman County sheriff’s deputies are on high alert after a threat was made on a social media mobile app last week, causing many parents to keep their children at home.

 Cullman County school officials requested an increased law enforcement presence at the campus this week, following an online threat indicating “something” could happen at the school.

School officials confirmed the threat was made through the mobile phone application Yik Yak, (Follow link below for more on the Yik Yak ban at GHHS), which allows students to post information connected to a geographical area. The system was designed for use on college campuses for users at least 17 years of age or older. But, high schools across the county and nation have had problems with students posting offensive and abusive comments.

Good Hope High School has instituted a temporarily ban on cell phones due to the application, but officials say a threat made to the school has been posted stating “something was going to happen” on Tuesday. No additional information was apparently included in the threat.

As a precaution, Superintendent Dr. Craig Ross requested additional law enforcement officers — in addition to the regular resource officer — be stationed at the campus. Ross said they do not believe the threat to be extremely serious, but chose to err on the side of caution.

“Although, we do not suspect this to be a real threat we are treating it as such and taking necessary precautions,” he said in a prepared statement. “The school will have additional law enforcement located on campus and the faculty and staff will be on high alert. The safety of our students and faculty are as always our top priority.”

An investigation is also underway to determine who posted the threat. Ross said according to the app’s privacy policy, law enforcement can request the IP address/author of posts that are considered an emergency situation. The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office have requested that information from Yik Yak to trace the threat back to the author.

“We are waiting on the response from Yik Yak. We will pursue legal consequences against the person responsible for this threat,” Ross said. “Again, the safety of our students and faculty is our main concern. Please know we are taking all measures to make sure your children are safe.”

The threat comes as Good Hope students prepare for final exams this week before Christmas break. As news of the threat spread, many parents chose to keep their children at home. Principal Anita Kilpatrick said there were around 35 absences Monday, compared to usually 20 on any given day.

Good Hope High School operated under a “soft lockdown” Monday, with classrooms locked and only authorized personnel allowed in the hallways. Several students said they were scared to be at school Monday and were going to try to stay home Tuesday.

Cullman County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerry Dover serves as school resource officer at Good Hope High School. He said deputies will be on stand by, with extra patrols inside and outside the school Tuesday.

* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 134.