On September 5, Michael Bennett was at Scott M. Ellis Elementary School in Greenville, a small town about thirty minutes from New York’s capital. The superintendent was welcoming students with fist bumps and a reassuring smile.

He was there not only to mark the first day of school but also to reassure students after a tragic event in another small town far away had caught his attention.

Just a day before the school year began in Bennett’s district, there was another devastating shooting at a school – this time in a Georgia suburb. Two students and two teachers lost their lives, and nine others were injured. A 14-year-old suspect was arrested and charged with four counts of murder.

This incident reminded Bennett of a traumatic experience from his long career in education. In February 2004, while preparing to teach at a high school in another small New York town, a student pointed a shotgun at him. As the student fired, the assistant principal intervened, causing Bennett to be shot in the leg. Thankfully, there were no other injuries. (The student later pleaded guilty, served time in prison, and has since been released.)

Two decades later, Bennett is one of many school leaders across the country facing the aftermath of distant gun violence affecting students, families, and staff. Experienced administrators like him constantly witness how shootings disrupt education— even among classrooms far removed from the actual events.

In the days and weeks following the Georgia shooting, schools nationwide experienced an increase in threats and incidents, a familiar pattern that often follows gun violence. This tragic event particularly affected the back-to-school season across many districts.

In various states, students were arrested due to threats made. School officials strengthened security measures, and a district close to Bennett’s had to cancel classes and afterschool activities as a precaution after receiving threatening calls.

These occurrences are not uncommon. Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group focusing on preventing gun violence, recorded 139 instances of gunfire on school properties in the U.S. in 2024.

Even schools far removed from these incidents feel their impact. Evaluating the credibility of threats, especially those that go viral online, has become a regular and challenging task for school superintendents and principals.

Bennett remarked that this is a distraction from the primary purpose of schools: educating students and teaching.

“It’s hard to focus on learning when there are ongoing threats,” he stated. “And it’s difficult to teach under such circumstances.”

‘Difficult times’ for school leadership

A week after the Georgia shooting, Superintendent Aaron Spence was dealing with his own crisis—numerous threats against the schools under his supervision in suburban Virginia.

Law enforcement in his area had dedicated days to investigating these threats, tracking their origins and interviewing witnesses. Although none of the threats were ultimately found credible, Spence recognized that Loudoun County Public Schools parents needed timely communication. In an email to families, he addressed the senseless acts of violence occurring in other schools across the country. He assured them that all threats, even those considered jokes by students, would be seriously investigated.

In Spence’s office, a note affixed to a cabinet reads: “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” He shared that this uplifting message was a gift from a school board member during the pandemic, reminding him that one can grow and learn even in challenging times, such as during efforts to keep classes safe from COVID-19.

Managing crises is a significant duty for superintendents. Alongside a surge of copycat threats affecting Spence’s district this month, there remains a pressing concern surrounding opioid misuse during his leadership. A year prior, around a dozen students at one of his schools experienced overdoses over several weeks. The district faced backlash for its slow response in informing parents about these incidents, leading Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, to issue an executive order mandating schools to alert parents within 24 hours of any overdose linked to school activities.

In an August message before the school year commenced, Spence affirmed the district’s commitment to collaborating with students, families, staff, and the community to combat the opioid crisis. Another student suffered a non-fatal overdose outside school before the academic year began.

However, as threats emerged following the Georgia shooting, Spence shifted his focus to educating students and families about violence prevention.

“Just like when we were children and learned that you could not shout ‘fire’ or ‘bomb’ in a theater, in today’s climate, individuals cannot utter or post anything that implies violence, as the repercussions could be dire,” Spence stated in a message to parents alongside local law enforcement on September 12.

Experts estimate that school districts respond to tens of thousands of threats each year. The rise of social media has worsened this issue, with numerous students across the U.S. facing legal action due to posts on platforms like TikTok and Instagram in recent weeks.

Michele Gay emphasizes the necessity for schools to proactively manage threats. Having lost her daughter in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, she believes it is crucial that school administrators maintain open lines of communication after incidents of gun violence, regardless of their distance. Parents deserve to know that there is an effective response strategy in place, she asserts.

“Ignoring the conversation heightens anxiety,” she noted. “We need to hear from our leaders after such events.”

Determined Aspiring Principals

While teaching, Kevin Lein’s phone buzzed with updates regarding the Georgia shooting.

Many messages came from the Principal Recovery Network, an initiative initiated in 2019 aimed at supporting principals who have experienced gun violence. Lein, then a principal in Harrisburg, South Dakota, was shot in the arm by a 16-year-old student in 2015 who had brought a weapon to school.

Despite his past, Lein maintained his passion for education and is currently a college professor in Nebraska, guiding future school leaders. When discussions about the Georgia shooting arose in early September, he shared these events with his students. While some expressed concerns about the possibility of facing gun violence at their future schools, this fear did not deter their aspirations to become principals—it gave him hope.

“They’re not afraid for their safety,” he explained. “They fear not being proactive and making a difference.”

Zachary Schermele reports on education and breaking news for YSL News. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.