Hopewell Area School District holding community forums on swatting incidents

Swatting calls are on the rise across the country, including here in Pennsylvania. In March, the Hopewell Area School District was one of several local districts that received a swatting call.Hopewell is hosting a series of community discussions about safety protocols and the response to the incident. The first was held Wednesday at the Hopewell Elementary library.Pittsburgh's Action News 4 crews intended to attend Wednesday's meeting, but the superintendent requested that journalists not attend so that parents inside could speak candidly about sensitive issues."This is just an opportunity for us to communicate with our families and learn from them as we move forward and debrief the whole swatting emergency issue that we had," said Jeff Beltz, superintendent of the Hopewell Area School District.Beltz said he was proud of the swift response by the school resource officer and police that day in March. He admitted, though, that improvements in communication can always be made."Our school mass messenger service can reach all our families," Beltz said. "But it doesn't necessarily hit all of our community members. I think that's the piece that the website can revise."Dates and locations of the upcoming events are:Junior High School (Library) May 15 at 6 p.m.Central Office (Board Room) May 16 at 12 p.m.Senior High School (Gym Entrance-Classroom) May 16 at 6 p.m.Independence Elementary (Library) May 17 at 6 p.m.Margaret Ross Elementary (Library) May 25 at 6 p.m.