A week that started in a social media frenzy at Kingfisher High School fortunately ended Friday without incident.

Inaccurate texts and social media posts about a KHS student disciplinary matter the week before fueled a panic among some parents and a noticeable decline in attendance Thursday, despite continued efforts by the Kingfisher Police Department and school officials to debunk the rumors.

School administrators said Tuesday the freshman student whose alleged threats against other students triggered the social media firestorm won’t be returning to school and police said their investigation turned up “no active threat to student safety.”

“It came to our attention after inappropriate comments [Sept. 19] directed at a couple of students,’” KPS Superintendent Jason Sternberger said. “We started doing some digging and found that the student had made other threatening comments directed at that same circle of friends.

"We immediately contacted law enforcement and also handled the situation administratively to ensure the student would not be back at school."

Those events took place over a week ago, leaving administrators to believe that the situation was addressed, he said.

“But before we knew it, all this information started swirling around that the student would be back at school this [past] Thursday and had assault rifles and other weapons and was threatening to come back to school and start hurting people," Sternberger said. "None of that was true."

The rumors were fueled by texts and Snapchats circulated among students that were then shared with parents and on social media.

Police Chief Dennis Baker said that – in addition to the report on the original threat – the police department is forwarding two additional reports to the Kingfisher County Assistant District Attorney’s Office based on a Snapchat and text message disseminated by two other students who later admitted their messages warning students to stay away from school last week had no basis in fact.

“We’re letting the DA decide what, if any, further action will be taken, but students need to realize that sending those kind of messages can not only result in school sanctions but could also be a serious crime – a felony, in some cases,” Baker said.

KHS Principal Todd Over-street said law enforcement was called in immediately last week when the first threat was made and have been working daily with school administrators to investigate subsequent reports as well.

Sternberger, Overstreet, Asst. Principal Jay Wood and KHS Counselor Paula Leffingwell visited each high school classroom last Wednesday morning to reassure students that the situation was handled.

“We also answered concerns directly from parents and heard from several that our efforts to reach out to every student helped allay their fears,” Sternberger said.

A police officer also was posted at the school at the start of classes Thursday and Friday, to “provide a reassuring presence.”

Even so, more than 70 students – roughly 18% of the student body – did not attend school Thursday.

“We usually run about 6-8% absenteeism this time of year,” Sternberger said “During flu season, we might hit 15-20% at the peak.”

By Friday, attendance was back to normal.

Both Baker and Sternberger recognize the usefulness of social media – KHS and the police department both maintain Facebook pages – but said it shouldn’t always be a first, or last, source of information.

“If you’re a parent or a student with concerns about school safety or any other issue, please bring that to us first,” Sternberger said. “All of the administrators have an open door policy and take every concern seriously, but if you’re not comfortable with that, please take your concern to a trusted teacher before you post it on social media.”

"Please consider the source, stick to official Facebook pages instead of relying on individual posts, and if you have questions about what you're reading, call the school or our office," Baker said.

Federal and state confidentiality laws prevent school discipline or juvenile criminal investigations from being openly discussed, but that doesn’t mean action is not being taken behind the scenes, both men said.

Far from sweeping matters under the rug, Stern-berger said he and other administrators have more than one motivation to make sure that every perceived threat to school safety is taken seriously and investigated.

“Not only are we concerned about the safety of every student in all our buildings, but many of us also have children who go to school here and we ourselves work here every day,” he said.

“Of course we’re going to do all we can to make sure Kingfisher schools are safe.”