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October 12, 2006

Terre Haute South Vigo goes to ‘Code Red’ after report of racial threat

By Deb McKee

TERRE HAUTE — A report of threats at an area McDonald’s restaurant Thursday morning caused an alarmed parent to call school officials at Terre Haute South Vigo High School, resulting in a temporary raised alert status at the school.

“At no time was the school in danger,” according to a letter school officials sent to parents of students at Terre Haute South Vigo High School.

The incident, which occurred at the Towne South McDonald’s on U.S. 41 South, involved an unspecified number of youths who were “throwing some food items around, being disruptive,” according to Vigo County School Corp. Superintendent Dan Tanoos. Tanoos did not say whether the youths were students of the school corporation, nor was their general age range specified.

“According to the folks we talked to, [the youths] were dressed in all black … a worker, who was of African-American descent, came to clean the area up, and a racial slur was made,” Tanoos said during a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Tanoos said someone, either a supervisor or another employee from the McDonald’s restaurant then made a telephone call to a parent of a Terre Haute South Vigo High School student, and relayed the incident to the parent. At that point, the alarmed parent called South High School, reporting “something that was not accurate to the school,” Tanoos said.

“[The parent was] told there was some damage done to the McDonald’s, to the lobby, and that the kids were on their way to South to harm our students,” Tanoos said.

On that information, Tanoos said, “our plan went into effect quickly with city, county and state [law enforcement],” and the school was placed on “Code Red,” which included locking classroom and exterior doors. Tanoos said there was no reason for parents to pick up their students, although those who came to the school were free to do so.

Tanoos, along with Ray Azar, director of student services for the Vigo County School Corp., and city and county authorities, went to the restaurant to determine the seriousness of the threat.

Tanoos said the McDonald’s employee indicated that the parent’s version of events was not correct.

Instead, “What had been said was, ‘That’s why they should kill blacks at South,’ or ‘That’s why they hurt blacks at South,’ or something to that effect – not: ‘they are going to go to South,’ not: ‘are on their way to south,’ ” Tanoos said.

The school corporation determined that, while the statement was offensive, it was “not of imminent threat,” and “at that point we went from Code Red to Code Yellow,” Tanoos said.

As for the call from the concerned parent, Tanoos said, “they did exactly what they were supposed to do.”

The school corporation released a statement that read, “As events have taken place in the nation recently, the public is aware of the need to report any potential threat to our schools. We appreciate those reports and we will continue to do a thorough job of checking them out in cooperation with law enforcement.”

No one at the Towne South McDonald’s was available for comment, but Pam Fisher, marketing manager for the restaurant chain, sent a statement to the Tribune-Star, saying, “The incident that occurred in our restaurant this morning was unfortunate and we take it very seriously. We do not tolerate violence of any kind in our restaurants‚ not by employees and not by customers. Fortunately, no one was injured.”

Fisher added, “We are cooperating fully with the Terre Haute Police Department in their investigation of this incident. As this is a pending police matter, it would be inappropriate to discuss further and, as such, any additional questions can be directed to the police.”

Members of the school corporation blamed media for what they said was blowing out of proportion an Internet threat over the weekend.

“I think information from the media out to the public on Tuesday helped to inflame this somewhat,” Tanoos said. “A lot of people who would not have been aware of the situation read into it more than I think was actually there.”

On Tuesday, the Tribune-Star reported that parents of South High School students had voiced concerns about a potentially threatening Myspace.com profile.

Tanoos said the profile indicated “that a racial slur was made toward some other students, and that was investigated. However, at that point we were not able to confirm the origination of the computer transmission.”

He said the investigation is ongoing, with the help of city police, the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI. No further information about the Internet incident was available Thursday.

“We obviously take every threat seriously, and even though [the Web site comment] did not happen at school we felt it important — because the school’s name was mentioned — for us to follow through and ensure the safety of our students.”

Tanoos said he is consistently visiting the schools. “I walk the halls of South High School and I don’t see any racial problems,” he said. “I’m sure they exist, I’m not so naive as to think that prejudice does not occur in our schools.

“We do have an issue that someone out there has said something that’s inappropriate and … we’ll eventually get to the bottom of this situation,” he added.

“Whoever is responsible for degrading, demeaning, bullying, or showing prejudice toward others will be dealt with appropriately in the school system, and likewise, if possible, through our local criminal justice system,” he said.

Deb McKee can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.

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