In the wake of an unfounded threat in neighboring Tamaqua Area School District last week, Lehighton Area School District presented an official “crisis management plan” Monday night spelling out responsibilities during any incidents.

The plan, Superintendent Dr. Christina Fish said, was something the district wanted to get implemented “sooner rather than later.”

“There has been an increase in swatting incidents and false reports about things such as armed intruders in schools,” Fish said. “If what happened in Tamaqua last week had happened here, we didn’t have this in place. We put it together rather quickly so everyone knows who is handling what in case of an incident.”

The plan is available online at https://bit.ly/3D48yi3. It spells out roles for all groups including administrators, teachers, nurses, custodians, office staff, food service workers, bus drivers, parents and students, among others.

“We have a different central office administrator assigned to be deployed to each school should something happen in that particular building,” Fish said.

Certain aspects of Lehighton’s emergency response plan can’t be shared with the public, she added.

“We are taking this very seriously and want to make sure everyone knows their responsibilities,” Fish said.

Tamaqua’s schools went into a lockdown last week after the unverified threat in its district. Police investigated and found that the threat was not credible. Last week in Connecticut alone there were 17 threats of active shooters in schools, all of which turned out to be swatting hoaxes. Dozens of schools in Minnesota, Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina and Florida have also been hit with hoaxes over the past month.

“It’s unfortunate because the hoaxes do create trauma and anxiety for students and it disrupts instruction,” Fish said.

Districts have to be ready, however, for the times when the threat is real. Two people, including a health teacher and a high school girl, were killed Monday in St. Louis when a gunman opened fire at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School.

“School shootings are becoming almost a weekly occurrence so even though there is a rise in hoaxes, you can’t ignore a threat when it comes in,” Fish said. “You have to take everything seriously.”