Charlotte-Mecklenburg School leaders update communication protocols following recent school threats
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — School leaders are sharing an update on improvements to their communication protocols following recent threats made toward schools last month.
Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Dr. Crystal Hill, along with other executive staff, posted a video on YouTube on Monday, detailing the steps school leaders have taken to assure better internal and external reporting of threats.
On Feb. 24, in a video posted to YouTube, Dr. Hill addressed recent concerns following threats of mass violence made against several Charlotte-area schools. Parents were notified days after a man allegedly threatened to kill people on multiple CMS campuses.
In the past two weeks, CMS reported several fights and multiple weapons were found on CMS campuses across the Charlotte area.
Following these incidents, a team of safety and communication leaders reviewed the current protocol to determine where they could add new and improved practices. Last week, the team presented their findings before the executive staff, including all building and central office leaders.
Starting Monday, March 10, the enhanced communication protocols will go into effect for all schools. Chief Communications Officer Dr. Shanna Spickard says parents will notice an increase in the number of notifications keeping them informed but notes that due to privacy laws and the integrity of investigations, there are times that the schools are limited in what information they can share.
Chief Operating Officer Tim Ivey says that from the 21-22 to the 23-24 school year, the district has seen a 7.7 percent reduction in the total number of criminal acts as well as an 8.3% decrease in acts of crime per 1,000 students, according to the NCDPI.
The school district reports a 49 percent decrease in possessions of weapons other than firearms and a 69 percent reduction in firearms (from 29 to 9) in the 23-24 school year.
On top of ensuring better safety practices within the schools, school leaders are emphasizing the need for families to work with schools, saying, 'School safety is truly a shared responsibility.'
'We need a strong partnership with our families to reinforce behavior expectations at home and to help address issues before they come to school,' Deputy Superintendent Dr. Melissa Balknight said. 'Whether you're a student, a parent, a staff member or community member, we all play a role in creating a safe environment where students can thrive.'
Dr. Balknight encourages families to talk to their children about the importance of thinking before they act and understanding that a 'harmless joke' can have serious and lasting consequences.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Corvette goes airborne in dramatic drag race crash video
A drag racer walked away from a harrowing crash after the Corvette he was racing at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois went airborne. The video, taken during a high-speed test run on May 31 for the VP Racing Fuels Heads-Up Shootout Series, shows driver Jason Hoard's car lift off the ground and crash into the track and tumble onto the embankment on the side of the raceway. "Everything was fine absolutely until the second that it wasn't," Hoard said in a June 4 YouTube interview on "The Wes Buck Show." "I was fine, then it literally felt like the car was going backwards. And I (made) myself small in the seat and I immediately thought this is not good.' Drag racing outlet Extreme 660 Drag Racing, which captured the video and posted it to Facebook, called it "the worst wreck we've filmed." Hoard credited the car's safety gear for walking away with minor injuries following the crash. He noted in the interview that the impact left him unconscious. "I'm super sore, and if you saw me moving around, I'd look like a 95-year-old dude," Hoard said. He added that he had searched the internet for concussion symptoms. "I've been in a bit of a brain fog this week ... I have some floaters in my right eye. I went to the eye doctor, and she said there's some bruising," Hoard said. NewsNation reported that track staff and the National Hot Rod Association have launched an investigation into the crash. Drag Illustrated reported that the crash took place during a test pass at non-NHRA sanctioned event, though it took place at an NHRA-sanctioned facility. "Each WWT Raceway drag racing event features an ALS (Advance Life Support) Ambulance Unit staffed by paramedics specially trained in responding to racing crashes," a statement provided to the network reads. "The WWT Raceway Safety teams were rolling to the crash site while Jason was still rolling and were at the scene of the crash less than 30 seconds after it occurred."
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Charlotte City Councilwoman says she's running for reelection after mistakenly sent email claimed she wouldn't
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Despite an email sent to supporters claiming she isn't running for re-election, Charlotte City Councilwoman Tiawana Brown says that email was sent by accident. The email sent Tuesday afternoon said Brown would not run again, but Brown confirmed with Queen City News's Chief Political Correspondent Andy Weber that the email was sent out by mistake and she is planning to seek another term. This fall, Brown will have a challenger for her council seat. Democrat Montravias King told Queen City News he will attempt to unseat Brown in the primary set for Sept. 9. The incumbent, who was elected in 2023, is facing federal fraud charges, and says she will not resign from her post. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
6 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘I saw my dad stabbing my mom': Eight years after grisly California killing, son testifies at trial
STOCKTON — As the first witness in the long-awaited trial of accused killer Daniel Winkler took the stand Tuesday, his eyes rested on the defendant, his father, who he hadn't seen since the night he watched his mother die nearly eight years earlier. The 13 year old told the court about how, on the night of Aug. 12, 2017, he was watching YouTube in his parents' bed and heard his mother yelling. 'I got up and walked over to see what was happening,' he testified, his voice barely a whisper over the courtroom speaker. 'What did you see?' the prosecutor asked. 'I saw my dad stabbing my mom,' the teen said. Angenai Terlouw, according to the autopsy report, was stabbed 21 times in the shower as her then 5-year-old son watched. Their daughter, 3, was with grandparents that night. Police arrested Winkler the next day. He has been in custody since. Winkler has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The case has been beset by delays for the past eight years, frustrating Terlouw's family, who said the wait for justice in her killing has left them unable to mourn the sister, daughter and mother. Nearly 100 hearings and countless procedural issues have dragged the case out, but as the Chronicle reported in April, it's one of many across California that stretch on for years despite a state law guaranteeing speedy trials for victims and their families. The cases take a heavy toll on victims' families and the judicial system, waste taxpayer funds and undermine public faith in the ability of the courts to effectively mete out justice. In Winkler's case, many of the delays stem from claims of delusions and other symptoms of mental illness that judges have twice determined he was faking or exaggerating. But there have been other delays, including inefficiencies in scheduling, unavailability of experts, three different county district attorneys overseeing the case, vacations and COVID. Three previous trial dates were set over the years, only to be cancelled. The case is one of the most gruesome cases in recent memory in San Joaquin County. Terlouw was stabbed twice in the chest, 12 times in the stomach and five times in the face and neck, the knife slicing through her larynx. A wound to her right wrist exposed the bone, and her left palm was slashed. She had cuts and bruises from the top of her head to her toes. Officers summoned to the home found blood on the bathroom walls and pooled in the tub. About 1½ miles away, police found Terlouw's body. She had been folded in half, bound with duct tape in a tarp and a pink baby blanket, and stuffed face down in a green trash bin. Winkler's father led police to the garbage can after his son showed him where he had put her body, according to witness statements in 2017. On Tuesday, three of Terlouw's six siblings were present to watch the trial start. Two others were expected to take the stand later and were barred from the courtroom until then. The oldest sibling, Thea Michelle Earl, said all the pre-trial hearings and the waiting felt like torture and the first day of trial was 'a relief.' At the same time, watching her 13-year-old nephew take the stand tied her stomach in knots. The teen testified that his dad had blood all over his shirt, which he put in the washing machine. The boy also said he remembered walking close to the shower and seeing his mom there. 'She was dead,' he testified Tuesday. 'I saw her body.' He testified that his dad then started crying. 'Was your dad saying anything at the time?' the prosecutor asked. 'He said, 'What did I do?'' the teen responded from the witness stand. While the teen remembered many of the significant parts of what happened that night, he said he didn't remember many of the details he told investigators two days after the murder. He remembered hearing his dad say, 'I killed Angi,' to his Grandpa Winkler, but he didn't recall his father telling him not to tell anyone what he saw — which was in his statement in 2017. 'I don't remember,' he said. 'I have no memory of that,' he said to questions about his father saying he had a mess to clean up. He repeated that he couldn't remember several times on the witness stand. Earl said that watching her nephew testify that he couldn't remember 'just felt like it wasn't fair.' 'If this had come sooner, he would have been able to answer,' she said. 'It's not fair to him. It's not fair to us. How can you remember something eight years later when you're a kid?' Daniel's father, Gary Winkler, took the stand later in the day, describing the hours he spent with his son before Terlouw's death and then the hours the next morning driving around Stockton trying to convince Daniel to tell him what happened to Angi. But the elder Winkler's memory also lapsed at times given the intervening years, with no recollection of what he told investigators in 2017. He testified he couldn't remember whether Daniel was acting out of the ordinary that evening. Gary Winkler testified that he didn't remember the exact words his son used when he came back early on the morning of Aug. 13. 'Maybe Angi's dead or something,' he said. But he also testified that Daniel told him he murdered Angi and that he 'believed' he said 'he had stabbed her.' After driving around the city, Daniel eventually directed his father to a street in North Stockton and pointed to a garbage can, the elder Winkler testified. 'I just saw the trash ca as we were driving by,' he said in court. 'I did not stop.' He testified he then convinced his son to turn himself in to police, which he said he did. The trial is expected to last through at least mid-July, with planned breaks for scheduled vacations and holidays. In opening statements earlier Tuesday, the prosecution said they would be arguing for a first degree murder conviction. 'This case is about choices,' the prosecutor said, 'before, during and after he killed his fiance and mother of his two children, stabbing her over 21 times.' The defense, in opening statements, did not claim Winkler had not killed Terlouw, but rather that he has been plagued by delusions, paranoia and hallucinations for most of his life and has recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. 'Keep your mind open,' the public defender told the jury.
