Ohio middle school placed on lockdown after reported threat made in retaliation against racist promposal

An Ohio middle school was placed on lockdown Friday morning after a student reported hearing another student say there would be a shooting at the local high school’s prom in retaliation to a racist promposal poster that made headlines earlier this week.

The Richland County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the school principal around 7:44 a.m. after a parent notified the middle school of the alleged threat, News 5 Cleveland reported.

The mother said her sixth grade student had overheard a classmate make a comment on Thursday about the possibility of a shooting at Clear Fork High School prom over a teenager’s racist invitation to the dance. The student was reportedly unable to identify who made the threat, the outlet reported.{mosads}

The middle school was placed on lockdown until around 9 a.m. after local law enforcement surveyed the school and found no credible threat.

The prom is scheduled to go on as planned but with additional security, News 5 reported.

The student who made the viral post has been barred from attending the dance after a photograph of the sign began circulating on social media. “If I was black I’d be picking cotton but I’m white so I’m picking u for prom,” the sign read.

Clear Fork Valley Local Schools Superintendent Janice Wyckoff told WGN TV that the student had expressed remorse for his actions and has since deleted the social media posts.

“This is a process, growing up is a process, and this is one of those moments that’s a teachable moment for this kid that will last a lifetime,” Wyckoff said. “Kids need to understand, when you’re celebrating things it doesn’t give you a pass on using inappropriate racial slurs.” 

Wyckoff did not say whether any further disciplinary action would be taken.

Students at a Washington state high school staged a walkout last month to protest a classmate’s similar racist invitation to a school dance.

Hundreds of teenagers at Issaquah High School organized the protest over a picture posted to social media which showed a teenage boy and girl holding a poster that read “[Redacted], if I was black, I’d be picking cotton but instead I pick you. TOLO?” KOMO News reported.