On Nov. 14, 2024, Stoughton High School students and their families were alerted through email of an anonymous threat made toward the school. The threat was made via social media late Nov. 13 and was reported through the Wisconsin Department of Justice “Speak Up, Speak Out” tip line.
SHS Principal Cassie Jemilo sent an email at 7:39 a.m. to emphasize the preventive measures that would be taken throughout the school day.
“Stoughton Police Department will be present at Stoughton High School today, and out of an abundance of caution, we will be searching student backpacks as they enter the building this morning,” Jemilo said.
Students and teachers took precautions in order to maintain safety, including locking classroom doors, keeping staff present in hallways during passing periods and giving escorts to students leaving during class periods. Even so, many students left throughout the day, leaving many classes with less than half of the students.
Later that day, at 1:10 p.m., Chief Daniel W. Jenks of the Stoughton Police Department put out a statement about the situation, saying, “The investigation into the online threats is ongoing.”
This was not the first threat that had been made towards the school, as six days before, on Nov. 8, another threat had been made via social media.
SHS parent Ryan Baughn was alerted of the threats by his son on the evening of Nov. 13, but had been in contact with Jemilo since the first threats were made. Baughn feels the school handled the threats well.
“I think they took prudent steps that displayed they took the threats seriously. I think searching bags helped make students and parents feel safe entering the school that day. They set up a system to find a firearm had the threat been serious,” Baughn said.
However, Baughn noted that these threats might have been preventable, as they stemmed from the shooting death of an SHS student in August 2023.
“These threats were born out of real and legitimate hurt and emotions. In the weeks and months immediately following this incident, the school had an opportunity to address the mental and emotional stress this event placed on many of the students, friends and peers [of the student killed],” Baughn said.
Baughn believes the previous administration failed to properly address the incident that took place just a month before the start of the 2023-24 school year, ultimately contributing to the threats made a couple of months after the one-year anniversary of the shooting.
“Instead of an empathetic, caring and proactive approach to helping the kids affected by this shooting, that administration, led by former Principal Mike Kruse and Associate Principal Liz Hrodey, moved forward as if it hadn’t really affected any students,” Baughn said. “It is my opinion that negative behavior by multiple SHS students at this time had more to do with these kids trying to mourn and process the grief and trauma that had taken place than anything else.”
Baughn believes that had the school board and administration focused on supporting the student body and the kids involved in the incident, the threat would not have occurred.
Students had mixed feelings about the threats and how the school handled them, including seniors Gracie Schmidt and Ashley Livingston.
Livingston felt she was safest in school that day, but also acknowledged that some precautions taken could have been executed better.
“Backpack searches were a little bit time-consuming, and I was late to first hour, about 20 minutes late,” Livingston said.
Schmidt, on the other hand, felt unsafe, saying, “I left school at one o’clock because I was scared.”
On Nov. 22, Jemilo and the Stoughton Police Department both released a statement regarding the incident.
“We’re now able to share that the Stoughton Police Department has taken two individuals into custody in connection with the incident,” Jemilo wrote in a district-wide email.
