School Board of Highlands County

Today we were notified by the Florida Department of Education about a statewide hoax email being sent to schools across the state. This hoax originated from the same email address(s) and had similar subject lines. We did receive this hoax email in Highlands County. We worked with the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, and it was determined that this hoax was not a credible threat. Out of an abundance of caution, law enforcement assessed campuses that received the email to verify that there was no threat.
There is no reason to believe that this threat originated locally, and we are assured that this is a hoax intended to cause disruptions to schools across Florida.
There was no danger to Highlands County schools at any time and no interruptions to the instructional day.