Dec. 21 arrived and departed without incident at Sedalia public schools, but the wake caused by false rumors of a violent plot and the Dec. 14 massacre at a Connecticut elementary school will have a lasting impact on security across the district.
Nearly two weeks ago, district administrators began investigating rumors spreading throughout Smith-Cotton High and Smith-Cotton Junior High schools of a planned attack on students and teachers pegged to Dec. 21, which some people believed would be the last day of the world based on the Mayan calendar. Pettis County Sheriff’s Deputy and School Resource Officer John Cline, Assistant Superintendent Brad Pollitt and other district and law enforcement officials dug into an investigation of the rumors, but Sedalia was not alone.
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