Fabens Community Wants Answers After Rumors of a FHS Hit List
UPDATED on Oct 1st: (The Fabens ISD Superintendent did send me an email to explain the situation)
"Campus administration was made aware of an incident where a student made a statement indicating a threat of violence. The administrators investigated and determined that students were not in danger nor was the threat credible. The source was identified and received appropriate disciplinary action. Law enforcement and parents were contacted.
Unfortunately our call-out system is not working or we would have made a call-out to parents. We used social media to direct parents to our website for information.
Today, I sent a message to staff thanking them for their support; a letter to all teachers to read to their students; and a letter to parents (which is posted on our website).
Others used social media to post inaccuracies and created a sense of anxiety needlessly. We took a severe stance with these posts and involved local law enforcement authorities also.
Sheriffs were not posted at every campus because there was no eminent danger; they did, however, patrol throughout the day and we had added security personnel at the high school today.
I hope I have illustrated that our intention was to inform parents through the means that were available to us. The safety of our community will always be a priority for us. I care deeply for this community and will work to keep us safe. I ask for trust from the community. I was available to speak with parents and staff throughout the day.
We will use this incident as an opportunity to remind everyone that words matter and to be kind with one another. Additionally, it is an opportunity to remind parents of the importance of monitoring their children's social media."
Original Post:
As a Fabens resident, I am always worried when something might happen in my small-town community. We live outside of El Paso so it takes us longer to reach hospitals and every second counts when help is needed after a violent act.
Last night, my community took to social media to try to understand a rumor of violent threats and a rumored hit list that students allegedly reported to the school.
When parents tried to reach out to the school, they were told the communication system was down. A message from the personal Facebook page of Fabens High School Assistant Principal, Alex Navarro has been going around in local groups to help calm the nerves of some parents. Navarro also released this document:
To help clear up some questions, residents can head to the Fabens ISD website to find this:
As I continue to monitor the private groups with my fellow Fabenites, I see some parents have kept their kids home today because they are scared and are allegedly not receiving any detailed answers from the school.
The fear of what happened to El Pasoans on August 3rd, 2019 is still very strong. I would expect the school to properly reach out and reassure the community whether we have children attending this school or not.