District Newsroom

Volusia County Schools is aware of various social media threats being made in the aftermath of the incidents that occurred at Mainland High School on Friday, September 9^th. As mentioned by Chief Young from the Daytona Beach Police Department, this was a very cruel prank that disrupted the school day.  District’s Security Operations worked with the help of local law enforcement to determine the validity of these threats. At this time, please know that these threats were determined to be unfounded rumors being spread by students on social media. Our community and our students should also be reminded that every threat will be investigated, and those who are found to be spreading false information and creating unsafe environments at our schools will be prosecuted by Law Enforcement. Spreading false information on Social Media is a very serious offense. This offense can carry a charge of a 2nd-degree felony by law enforcement and suspension with a recommendation for expulsion from Volusia County Schools. This behavior will not be tolerated as the safety of our students and staff is paramount. 

The Mainland High School incident from Friday was thoroughly investigated by the School Administration, the Volusia County School’s Security Operations Division, and local Law Enforcement Authorities. Every student linked to the disruption on Friday has been identified, and those with direct involvement will face the appropriate consequences based on our student Code of Conduct. Any student further identified as having contributed to the disruption will also face the same consequences.  To prevent these types of situations from occurring in the future, we are asking parents and guardians to communicate with their children how dangerous these pranks are, how they create a very unsafe school environment, and how serious the internal and external consequences are. As a district, we have had multiple debriefings on the events from Friday, September 9th at Mainland High School. We will continue to work together with local law enforcement to ensure there is a timely and appropriate response to every incident.

For any further information, please contact Angel M. Gomez, Director of Volusia County Schools Communications at 386-734-7190 ext. 20230 or amgomez@volusia.k12.fl.us