$2,000 reward offered for St. Charles school threat info

Fed up with anonymous threats in schools, Superintendent Don Schlomann said St. Charles District 303 is offering a $2,000 reward to help identify the culprit behind another message found in a bathroom stall Wednesday.

"Everybody's just sick of this stuff," Schlomann said. "We are going after this individual aggressively."

About 9 a.m. Wednesday, Schlomann said he was alerted to a "threat specific to a staff member" carved into a boys restroom stall at North High School, 255 Red Gate Road. It was the third recent threat of violence Schlomann could recall in his district, and one of numerous others across the suburbs.

While Schlomann said he and police believe the message was nothing more than "an attempt to extend the weekend," administrators have had enough.

Within hours, the district put up $2,000 of its own as a reward for information leading to a conviction, set up a tip line and sent an alert to parents and staff. In addition to criminal charges, Schlomann said, the threat-writer would face school disciplinary action.

"We have a list of students and we are fairly confident one of those individuals was the culprit," Schlomann said. "But we're asking for the help of parents and other students to figure out exactly who this individual is."

Last week in St. Charles, a Richmond Elementary School student was suspended for writing a threat in a boys bathroom, but is not likely to face criminal charges because of his age.

Schlomann said District 303 has had better luck narrowing down suspects under a new policy requiring that school restrooms be checked for graffiti once an hour. He added that he hopes other districts will pursue similar incidents more aggressively to resolve what has become a regional problem.

"Hopefully we can catch these individuals and stop this from happening everywhere -- not just in District 303," he said.

Anyone with information about Wednesday's threat can call (866) 378-4267.