Managing Editor

In this day and time, threats of physical harm to a person or a group(s) of people have to be taken seriously.

As do rumors of threats. For Upson-Lee High School on Wednesday, a possible text message on Tuesday and a subsequent daisy-chain of rumors derived from the text message created an atmosphere of fright and concern from both students and parents at the school.

Quickly responding to the situation, ULHS Principal Cleve Hendrix wasted no time in getting the Upson County Sheriffs Department involved to a high degree.

According to Chief Deputy Sheriff Dan Kilgore on Wednesday evening, his deputies were at the school in force all day to keep an eye on things.

“We were out there all day and there were not any incidents,” he said. “It was relatively quiet. We are in the process of tracing back the original text message that started all this and when we find the originator, we will take action on the matter.”

Things were anything but quiet inside the school. There were several students absent and others were checked out by parents during the day as the rumor mill continued to turn.

In a statement released Thursday morning, Karen Truesdale, Director of Public Relations for Thomaston-Upson Schools, had this to say:

“These rumors, believed to have been started with a text message on Tuesday night, prompted fears of an altercation at the high school on Wednesday. ULHS Principal Cleve Hendrix was very proactive and had deputies from the Upson County Sheriff’s Department in the hallways when the students arrived and throughout the school day.

“The Thomaston-Upson School System is extremely proud of the administration and staff at ULHS for their rapid and well-organized response to these rumors. We are also very proud of our students. They are mature, well-behaved teenagers who showed our community on Wednesday that school is a place where they are united in their quest for knowledge, not divided by tensions, rumors, or fears.”