Justice
What Happens When a Terror Threat Shuts Down 900 Schools
The L.A. Unified School District’s decision had consequences for kids, parents, and teachers alike.
Students in the nation’s second-largest school district are returning to class Wednesday. An emailed terror threat shut down the Los Angeles Unified School District on Tuesday and set off a massive police hunt across its 900 campuses. Superintendent Ramon Cortines made the unprecedented decision to close schools “because he couldn’t take a chance with the system’s 640,000 students,” according to the L.A. Times.
Hours after the decision, word came that New York City public school officials had also received an email threat, almost identically worded as LAUSD’s, but had chosen to treat it as a hoax and not close schools.