Some districts in California, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Texas closed Friday as a precaution, while many others across the nation, including Iowa, had an increased police presence, according to USA TODAY. It's unfortunate that the social media platform continues to be a thorn in the side of educators nationwide," Lewis added. "If you are on social media at all, it's obvious this latest TikTok threat is scaring parents across the country. School officials in Ankeny and Southeast Polk noted some increases in absences, while Des Moines said a good count might not be available until Monday, though "anecdotally, it does seem our numbers are down," according to spokesperson Amanda Lewis. In West Burlington, 25% of students did not go to class Friday, and in Ames that figure was approximately 29%. In Burlington, nearly 1,900 students stayed home Friday - about 57% of the district's student population - although officials said some of those absences should be attributed to illness and other reasons. Several districts told the Iowa Department of Education that school attendance was down Friday due to this week's threats, according to communications director Heather Doe. Attendance down, police presence up at some Iowa districts "Although these threats were not carried out, the seriousness of the crimes and the disruption of the school and the learning environment were factors taken into account when criminal charges were filed," the release said.Ī school resource officer with the West Des Moines Police Department worked with district staff to investigate the threats, according to the release. The threats caused some West Des Moines parents to remove their children from school last Friday, according to police. Related: Authorities say there's no specific threat to Iowa schools as social media rumors spread Each of the students will be referred to the Polk County Attorney’s Office for prosecution by the Polk County Juvenile Court, the release said.
The names of the students will not be released because they are juveniles.
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