Principal Andy Baxa sent an email to parents on Halloween after rumors spread on campus of a threat made on social media toward the Mac community. Baxa’s statement came just as he announced to the school that the pep rally would be held after head football coach Tom Gammerdinger told players they would not be participating. Gammerdinger later allowed players to attend as they normally would. It also came after Baxa sent an email to parents earlier that week about another alleged social media threat and days before outside agitators gathered in front of Mac yelling and holding signs with hateful messages.
Baxa described to the Shield the process that goes into determining whether a threat is real or not, including Halloween’s, but said all accusations are investigated.
“The first step is to notify AISD police and begin a formal investigation,” Baxa said. “During that call with AISD police, I requested additional officers to be present for school on [Oct. 29], the original rumored date. Next, the McCallum administrative team in partnership with AISD police started looking into the original rumored threat.”
Baxa said that because of the concern and rumors, the investigation continued even as the administration believed there was no confirmed threat.
“That afternoon the investigation determined there was no threat made against McCallum and the community letter was drafted and sent out,” Baxa said. “[Oct. 30] we continued to listen to student concerns and followed up on additional information we received from those conversations.”
Baxa said that later that night he continued to get emails from parents expressing concern over safety on Halloween day. Because of the pep rally and the date, Baxa said he took the worries seriously even as there was no reported threat to campus.
“[Halloween] morning we had additional AISD police officers on campus; some remained on campus throughout the day,” Baxa said. “We continued to look into the rumors about a potential school threat, talking to more students and continuing our online search. The determination was made that this was an unfounded and baseless threat, so we moved forward with our planned activities.”
Gammerdinger alerted varsity players and their parents at approximately 2 p.m. that due to “concerns,” athletes would remain in the fieldhouse and not attend the pep rally.
“I have tried to get in contact with admin[istration] to get some clarification, but it appears they are all in a meeting right now about this same concern,” Gammerdinger wrote. “We will hold the kids in the fieldhouse and not take them down to the pep rally until we have all the information.”
Later, Gammerdinger clarified to the Shield that he never told players not to attend the pep rally, but was responding to a message from a parent sharing their concern about the rumored threat.
Gammerdinger said he spoke to Baxa, learned that there was no credible threat and made the decision that the pep rally would go on with football players in attendance.
“I certainly did not validate the threat in any way,” Gammerdinger said. “I just said that we would look into it and err on the side of caution.”
Baxa said the decision to continue with the planned pep rally was based on the investigation providing no evidence that there were credible threats to the campus or any students.
“I also consulted with AISD leadership, and they advised to not cancel the pep rally,” Baxa said. “We all agreed that we could not let fear dictate what we did. Our investigation determined there was no threat so we were safe to proceed. If we found one ounce of credibility to the rumors, then our response would be different.”
Parents were seen during eighth period on Halloween lining up to pick up their kids in the office during eighth period. Baxa acknowledged the “rumors and speculations” and reiterated his claim that the community is safe.
“Currently there is no evidence that any student created a ‘safe’ or ‘hit’ list,” Baxa wrote in an email to parents. “Additionally, no firearms were found on campus. I want to reassure everyone that there are no active threats against McCallum, our students, or staff including during today’s pep rally.”
Baxa ended his email by encouraging parents to contact him if they had further concerns but made it clear that there was and is no threat to anyone on campus.
“Whenever we receive reports about potential threats to the school or students, we promptly notify AISD police and conduct a thorough investigation,” Baxa wrote. “This week’s investigation confirmed that there was no threat directed at McCallum, any student, or staff member. I want to assure you, if we believed there was an existing risk to student safety on campus, we would notify you promptly.”
In an interview, Baxa said that he understands students’ and parent’s concerns and provided advice on how the community can handle social media rumors. He also said it is difficult for the administration to regulate what is posted and shared on social media but insisted that he firmly believes in the protocols the school has set up to deal with possible threats.
“My best advice is to talk with an adult at the school, preferably one of the [assistant principals] or with me directly,” Baxa said. “Too many people spent Wednesday and Thursday spreading false information fueling the panic in our community. I spoke to numerous students about the information they shared online or in a group chat and I asked them how many friends did you share this with versus how many adults at the school they told. Most of the time the students did not tell any adults but shared it with all of their friends.”
Baxa praised the students who immediately alerted the administration after seeing concerning posts online.
“I am thankful for their courage to share their experience with us,” Baxa said. “Spreading potentially false information to friends and family only makes the situation worse.”
—with additional reporting by V Overstreet
