LEXINGTON, N.C. — School threats have become a widespread issue in the Piedmont Triad. Eight in the area have either canceled classes or gone on lockdown in the past month.
Lexington City Schools became the latest Tuesday.
Before students at Lexington Senior High School made it to the lunch hour they were sent home because of a social media threat.
"We take all these threats seriously and will always err on the side of caution," said Lexington City School board chair Darrick Horton.
The early dismissal allowed deputies to investigate.
"Once you put something on social media it's out there forever. It's out there for us to track it down," said Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons.
It's unclear if the online threat was real or not.
No matter the case, Lexington city school board chair Darrick Horton said they're taking steps to protect students from all threats.
"We have a clear backpack policy and it's working excellent," Horton said. "We have metal detectors when students come in school and we have metal detectors for anyone that enters the school and badges they must have."
It's not just Lexington city schools dealing with school threats.
This year alone thousands of students across North Carolina submitted tips to the Say Something App to report dangers in school.
"There's a lot of people across this world that would like to scare us here," said Winston-Salem Forsyth County Scholls Chief Safety Security and Emergency Manager, Jonathan Wilson.
Wilson said they get tips weekly from the app.
"They range from bullying to what someone saw on social media or a student or staff member dealing with mental health issues," Wilson said. "We take those things and we investigate."
Wilson said since almost all threats have a social media element to them, they monitor it daily and work with law enforcement.
'We gather it from the NC info sharing and analysis center with the SBI we get reports and can see a threat coming from one part of the country to the other," Wilson said.
Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons said hoaxes or not making threats against schools have real consequences.
"It's a class H felony with up to 3.5 year sentence for this," Simmons said. "and you lose things like the right to vote, you lose things like the right to bear arms."
Penalties put in place to prevent violent acts and protect students.