How Austin school administrators deal with students who make threats against the school

AUSTIN, Texas – Hays CISD confirmed the arrest of a sixth student in the district following recent threats on campus as authorities join forces to combat the recent spike in cases.

Austin ISD hosted several districts, as well as Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza and Austin Police Department leaders, to discuss the serious consequences students could face, regardless of their age.

AISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed said 30 threats were made against AISD schools last week alone.

“We investigate every single threat we encounter and pursue it until it is no longer a threat,” Sneed said.

The Travis County District Attorney's Office takes them just as seriously. Garza said even false threats have real consequences.

“If you threaten a school, you will be found, arrested and held accountable,” Garza said.

According to Garza, there are currently more than 30 cases pending, only two of which involve adults. Garza said although threats are prosecuted every year, the sheer magnitude of what they are currently seeing is alarming.

“Firearms are simply too accessible to young people and to people who possess them illegally,” Garza said. “As long as that's the case, we have to take these cases incredibly seriously.”

Garza said that regardless of age, if you commit a crime, you will be arrested. He also mentioned that since a wide range of behaviors are investigated, they will review each case individually and determine if there is sufficient suspicion.

However, Garza said there is a difference in the prosecution of adults and minors.

“The process moves faster than the adult process. Our judiciary or judges in the juvenile justice system have far more discretion than judges in our adult justice system,” Garza said.

Garza said juveniles enjoy special protection under the Family Law Act. Once a minor is detained, they are given a hearing to assess their danger to the community and determine whether they should remain in custody. After that, hearings are held every 10 days. Garza said the juvenile justice system is designed to help rehabilitate youth.

“We're trying to strike a balance between keeping our community safe and ensuring that young people have every opportunity to thrive because that's in the best interest of our public safety,” Garza said.

AISD police said this is a community problem and it is necessary for the community to fix it. They say parents should talk to their children about what is and is not acceptable to joke about.

They also encourage others to come forward if they hear or see anything suspicious.