Plainview ISD cancels school district-wide again Tuesday, citing investigation into threats
PLAINVIEW — Classes at all Plainview ISD campuses will be canceled again Tuesday — and perhaps indefinitely — after the district canceled Monday, citing concerns about threats to teachers and staff in the fallout of national attention to reports about a student being sexually abused in a classroom.
The Tuesday cancellation was initially announced in an email to staff Monday afternoon, which stated the district is working with state agencies to "assess the containment and continued viability of threats of violence made state-wide and nationally against South Elementary and PISD educators."
The district's first announcement Friday noted classes were canceled Monday at South Elementary School, but the closure was later expanded district-wide Monday and then Tuesday, with PISD officials also citing concerns about the overall environment of violence following Saturday's deadly shooting at a shopping mall in the Dallas-Ft. Worth suburb of Allen.
The cancellation comes as Plainview Independent School District is under fire for allegedly failing to properly communicate with parents after a first grader was reportedly forced to perform a sex act on another while a teacher was in the room April 19, according to reports. The incident was discovered when an IT technician found a video recording of the incident on a school iPad, the Avalanche-Journal first reported Monday, May 1.
More: Plainview parents seek answers after alleged sexual assault at elementary school
Disgruntled parents, family and community members protested outside PISD's administrative offices Monday morning, May 1, and marched down Broadway last Friday night. The outrage has since gathered national media attention and gone viral on social media.
The A-J learned Plainview ISD announced the May 8 cancellation — originally just at South Elementary — via text message Friday afternoon, though an announcement did not appear to be posted publicly on the school district's website or social media channels by late Friday. A website and the Facebook page for South Elementary also appeared to have been taken down Friday.
The Monday afternoon email indicated the school district has involved the FBI in the investigation of the April incident at South Elementary and referred the police investigation to the Hale County District Attorney's Office. PISD previously told the A-J that Child Protective Services and law enforcement were investigating.
Plainview ISD also said in Monday's statement the district is working with the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Department of Public Safety's Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division to evaluate the reported threats. The district did not give an estimated date when classes might resume, but said, "Once we receive feedback from both entities, we will decide on when classes may continue."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Plainview ISD cancels school district-wide again Tuesday, citing threats
