DEERFIELD, IL — Township High School District 113 officials assured the public there was no immediate danger from a Deerfield High School student whose online activity raised safety concerns.
Superintendent Chala Holland said district and school administrators learned about “online and social media behavior that posed a potential threat to the safety and security of DHS” and contacted police on Monday.
“After going through the threat assessment protocol, it was clear that there was no immediate threat to the safety and security at DHS and school operations continued as scheduled,” Holland said in a message to the community Monday evening.
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“We are working in partnership with the Deerfield Police Department as they continue to investigate. At this time, there is no known threat,” she said.
The superintendent said the district could not share any further information about the incident, but said administrators were grateful to “the individuals in the DHS Community who came forward to report this matter.”
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The announcement came one week after the District 113 board approved a contract with a Florida-based firm to provide dogs trained to detect guns and explosives at Deerfield and Highland Park high schools.
The contract, which runs through June 2025, allows for an optional one-year extension and involves the teams monitoring student entry, locker rooms and other areas on campus.
The decision follows several high-profile security incidents in the district in the wake of the 2022 Highland Park mass shooting, including an April 2023 gun incident at HPHS that led to a lockdown and a fatal off-campus shooting of a HPHS student, allegedly by a fellow student, last August.
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At the board’s Sept. 10 meeting, President Anne Neumann read out a statement that board members would continue to ask Holland and other administrators to meet their expectations that all staff and students in the district can give and receive education without any gun violence.
“Achieving this depends on three key pillars of school safety: ensuring every student feels a sense of belonging, providing comprehensive mental health support and implementing layers of physical safety measures in our buildings,” Neumann said.
“We recognize there is no perfect solution, and we must be thoughtful in its approach, relying on research, case studies and current best practices. “
Related: Dogs To Patrol HPHS, DHS To Sniff Out Guns, Explosives
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