SHALER, Pa. — On Wednesday, Shaler students were back in the classrooms, and security was increased for their arrival after a threat to Shaler Elementary School prompted the district to push back their start date.
“It’s nerve-racking sending them to school at all without any threats,” said Caree Rudolph, a mom to a kindergartener within the district.
On Monday, 28-year-old Daniel White was arrested for a threat made to Shaler Elementary School. In response, the district pushed back its start date to Wednesday.
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“It was hard. It’s already scary enough, sending your kid to school. There were police officers, so that made me feel a little bit better,” Rudolph said.
Shaler police increased security ahead of school starting and were joined by police departments from Etna, Millvale, and Reserve.
“We take the safety of our students very seriously, and that has forced us to step up our working relationship with the school district and the administration in all of the buildings to do what we can to provide them with all of the resources we have…not just in Shaler Township but in Allegheny County as a whole,” Lt. Josh Watkins said.
There are school resource officers in almost every building, and metal detectors were added at the entrances. He said they will take every threat seriously, no matter the circumstance.
“The world is ever changing, and the school threats have been more and more, and that’s very unfortunate, but we are members of this community also. We have children in these schools, so we are a part of this community,” Lt. Watkins said.
Investigators don’t believe White has any connection to the Shaler school district. He’s being held at the Allegheny County Jail without bond.
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