Non-Credible School Violence Threats on TikTok

December 16, 2021

Hello CVSD Staff, Families, and Caregivers,

I wanted to alert you to information that CVSD and all Vermont school districts and supervisory unions received on the afternoon of December 15, 2021, from Secretary of Education Dan French regarding some non-credible school-based threats circulating on the TikTok social media platform.

These posts with non-credible school-based threats have made their way into Vermont, and other states in our region are reporting similar social media activity. These posts describe the potential for school-based violence on December 17, 2021. We want to stress again that, at this time, there is no credibility to any of these threats. The Vermont Intelligence Center and our law enforcement partners across the state will continue to monitor this situation and keep us updated if anything changes.

If you believe your child is active on social media and you feel it’s appropriate, please have a conversation with them to make them aware of this situation. As always, if you have any school safety concerns, we encourage you to contact your local law enforcement agency to make them aware of this information. We take these situations very seriously and collaborate closely with all of our school safety stakeholders to provide an open, safe and welcoming environment. The safety of your children and our staff is our number one priority.

If you or your child become aware of any potential threat posted to social media or anywhere else, please notify a school staff member or trusted adult right away.

We know that these non-credible threats may increase fear and anxiety in your student, your school, and within your family. As the lead representative of the school district and as a parent with students in CVSD schools, I can understand both of those emotions. We trust the information that we have received from the Agency of Education and the Vermont Intelligence Center regarding this issue. We hope to ease your student’s and your family’s concerns about these social media posts by sharing this letter.

Should we have any additional information presented to the district, we will let you know as soon as possible.

Thank you so very much,


Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

Champlain Valley School District

Hashtags Help Us Share Our Story

The term hashtag was first used in 2007. Since then it has permeated our lives and most of us have some level of understanding of how it's used today. But did you know that there's power in the hashtag in terms of education? What we also refer to as the number sign has taken on a special meaning for those in our schools. 

In the Champlain Valley School District, we have many hashtags that our schools and educators use to share events, highlights, and help tell our story. This past week, Angela Filion, principal at the Allen Brook School, shared a tweet that was incredibly well-received. How do we know that? It was liked and retweeted a lot, at least by our standards! (20 retweets and 184 likes as of this writing)

Angela did not use hashtags in her tweet, but did include the usernames or accounts (look for the @ sign), which signaled to others that they were mentioned in the tweet. Her tweet was noticed and featured in this Burlington Free Press article, spreading the word even further.  We're honored that UVM men's basketball star Anthony Lamb chose to devote time in a very important week to young students at ABS. Though UVM didn't win their game in the tournament, they're winners to us.

Hashtags help us reach a wider audience. Searches on Twitter and Instagram by hashtag result in a bevy of posts in which those hashtags are featured. It's a way to filter or narrow down the many tweets or posts. Many CVSD schools and educators in our district include the #cvsdvt hashtag in their tweets and Instagram posts. It helps those who want to see what's happening in the district find those all in one place. There are many educators within our schools using these hashtags ranging from administrators, classroom teachers, librarians, athletics, and specific departments. 

Search for these usernames and hashtags on Twitter as another way to get a window into what's happening in our schools: 

CVSD District   @cvsdvt           #cvsdvt
Hinesburg          @hcslearns      #hcslearns
Charlotte            @ccscvsd        #ccscvsd
Shelburne           @SCSLearns  #scslearns
CVU                                           #cvuhs  
There are a variety of accounts associated with CVU! Check out @CVULearns and @CVUAthletics to get started.

In the coming week, you'll see tweets coming from our schools celebrating Public Schools Week and incorporating these hashtags as well. 

National hashtags: #publicschoolproud and #psw19

Vermont-specific hashtags: #celebratevted and #vted

We thank the many educators in CVSD who are helping to communicate in a variety of ways with our communities.