Interim Superintendent Mantell addresses ‘safety concern’ at Oak Hill Schools

Jeremiah Shaver, Telegram Multimedia Journalist 9/12/2022 11:49 AM The  Oak Hill Union Local School District announced late Sunday night that  the school district would be closed on Monday, Sept. 12, due to a safety  concern. The Telegram has worked to learn  more regarding the issue at hand and was able to contact Oak Hill  Interim Superintendent Jason Mantell who shared what he could at this  time on the matter. “Late in the evening last night (9-11-22),  we received some information about some social-media content that was  concerning,” explained Mantell. “A member of our admin team was provided  this information, and it was shared with me.” Mantell added, “We than involved law  enforcement and other members of our admin team. It was very late, and  we didn’t feel that we had adequate time to investigate and have school  today (9-12-22). I hate to disrupt the school year; we have had a  fantastic beginning of the year but the last thing I want to do is  interrupt that. But we are in the business of keeping people safe, first  and foremost.” He went on to tell The Telegram  that he did not feel comfortable bringing students and staff into the  buildings today. However, based on what the school district knows, they  “don’t feel that there’s an imminent threat.” “I never want to take chances with safety  of students, staff or the community,” said Mantell. “We feel like we  have worked through the appropriate channels.” Mantell said, “We are still following up to make sure we don’t have any issues.” Mantell would not disclose to The Telegram what the social-media post said since law enforcement was still  investigating the matter. He would not disclose whether or not it was a  student or member of the community that made the post. Mantell did  confirm that a member of staff did not make the post. Mantell also wanted to apologize to the  parents of the Oak Hill Union Local School District for technical issues  regarding the robo-call system. He explained that the system showed  that the call went out, but it didn’t reach very many people. In addition to the Oak Hill students being  excused today, students from Oak Hill who attend Buckeye Hills Career  Center were excused as well.