New Prague schools respond to concerning social media posts

The New Prague School District responded to two concerning posts that came through social media. One was an anonymous nationwide threat advocating violence against schools on Friday, Dec. 17, that was being shared on TikTok. The other media post was directed at New Prague and used a racial slur that people “Watch yo backs.”
“Number one, when we received information about the national TikTok message we contacted the New Prague Police,” said New Prague Director of Educational Services Tony Buthe. He said the school district also communicated with parents to let them know about the TikTok message or “challenge.” Buthe said the New Prague Police Department made them aware of the second media post. Police considered that post “concerning, but not a threat.”
The school district worked with the New Prague Police Department and the Elko New Market Police Department to have extra officers at all the schools so they could continue with classes on Friday. The district also had one to two Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Deputies assist, plus the school district had extra adults from their staff show up on Friday.
“We’re always very concerned and number one is the safety of our students and staff,” said Buthe. He added that parents were allowed to make their own decisions about whether their children would be at school on Friday. Some decided to have their children in school, some parents called to let the school district know their children would not be in school.