Snyder ISD threat prompts youth center to close doors

SNYDER, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – When news broke that Snyder ISD was closing due to a threat, with little to no details about the nature of the threat, the Scurry County Youth Center also decided to close for the day as a precaution.

On Thursday morning, Snyder ISD announced the closure of its campuses in response to a threat made against the district. According to officials, the decision happened after school board members received an email containing the threat at approximately 11:00 p.m. the previous night.

The details of the threat were not disclosed to the public, prompting Heather James, a parent and the director of the Scurry County Youth Center, to close her facility. James explained that, without specific information, she felt compelled to make the best decision to ensure the safety of the children.

“It had really no details. It was just saying that there was a threat. That was at 11:00 p.m. or later, and they didn’t have time to do an all-clear. So, with them not having any information, I’m not knowing the severity of the situation and the circumstances or what the threat even is,” James explained.

Local authorities were immediately notified once the threat was known and conducted thorough searches of the campuses. However, the “all clear” was not issued in time for the school day to begin, leading to the closure announcement. Heather James stated that she preferred dealing with the inconvenience over risking a potential safety issue.

“I know that it’s very frustrating to be shutting down, especially at the last minute, but what [would be] even more frustrating is if they had known about the threat, we send our kids to school, and then something happens,” James shared. “We’ve seen the tragedies on the news and how once tragedy strikes, it’s so fast, and everything is so chaotic. There’s nothing that we can do at that point.”

The police are continuing to investigate the situation and have identified an out-of-state person of interest. Meanwhile, normal school operations resumed Thursday night, and increased law enforcement will remain at the school in the following days as an ongoing precaution. The Scurry County Youth Center will return to its normal operations on Friday.