Last week, school district officials received several warnings about a possible shooting at the high school, allegedly slated for the next day, but their investigation quickly proved the concerns were not founded. Now, school officials say they will place some attention on effective reporting of potential threats and consideration of the damage unfounded rumors can do when innocent people are named in them.

District officials in-formed school families about the warnings and their determination about them last Wednesday. They also put a plan in place for Thursday to help alleviate any parental, student or teacher concerns. That effort included having King County Sheriff’s Office deputies at the school on Thursday as well as mental health counselors from Vashon Youth &Family Services for those who wanted extra support.

On Friday, Superinten-dent Michael Soltman spoke to the experience and the concerns it evoked.

“I think any situation like that raises anxiety and causes you to feel vulnerable, and that is what our staff and our community went through as a result of being exposed to a perceived threat,” he said.

He also addressed the importance of communication, saying the sharing of information is essential in helping the district respond to and reduce anxiety about situations like this as best it can.

“I want to hear it all,” he said.

Vashon High School Principal Danny Rock said he began investigating the credibility of the threat after the initial reports came in and involved law enforcement right away. Two swing shift officers and the sergeant came in and reviewed the information the district had gathered and indicated they thought the district was taking the right actions.

The next morning, two deputies were at the high school when students arrived.

“They were there to provide visual relief, visual assurance,” Rock said. “That response was about assuring nervous students, not about apprehending a suspect.”

In an email to parents, Rock said he believed the rumors were a compilation of bad information, previous rumors from last year at McMurray and an incident that included a threat to the school earlier this month. That incident was resolved, he noted, and the student had, in fact, not had plans to hurt anyone and was remorseful.

Rock noted that he does not know how certain students came to be named in last week’s reports, and no one has provided concrete evidence to make that more clear. Looking ahead, he said he wants to talk about related issues with students at the high school.

“My concern is that we are human beings and we tend to make the simplest associations available to us, and that means sometimes reinforcing inaccurate assumptions,” he said.

He noted that when reporting potential threats, it is important for people to know what is fact — what they have knowledge of first hand, and what they know third or fourth hand — and share information accordingly.

“People’s reputations get built and destroyed in this way,” he added. “Living here with a compromised reputation is extremely painful and difficult.”

Ultimately, he said the potential risk to students was the most important — and easiest — element to determine.

“But that is not where it ends,” he added, saying there will be conversation forthcoming about “how we are connected to one another.”

While it was a difficult situation, Soltman looked to find some positive elements that came from it.

“We have drilled a lot about this. It was a good opportunity to test our systems, to see what our strengths and challenges are,” he said, adding, “We are relieved it was just a drill.”