Omar Bakri www.kentwoodps.

org
Principal P: (616) 698-6700
6230 Kalamazoo Avenue F: (616) 698-2384
Kentwood, MI 49508

September 24, 2023

Dear East Kentwood Families,

We are writing to update you on our investigation that we communicated with you earlier in the day
regarding a social media post that is circulating among some of our students. As we mentioned
earlier, we understand the concern involved and have been working throughout the day and into the
evening to understand the credibility of the message in the post. Our investigation has been
conducted in partnership between school and district administrators, the Kent County Sheriff’s
Office, and a national school safety expert from Secure Educational Consultants that our district
utilizes on a consistent basis.

Based on all of the information we have, neither law enforcement or our school safety expert find this
to be a credible threat. With the support of our school safety partners, we will hold school on Monday,
September 25th as scheduled. While this threat was not deemed credible, we understand that
students, staff, and families may have increased concern. Therefore, out of an abundance of
caution, we will increase our safety and law enforcement presence at our school.

We are thankful for those individuals that reported this concern to school officials and to law
enforcement. Every member of our school community has a role to play with safety at school and in
our community. Parents, when discussing with your children, please reinforce the importance of
reporting concerns to a trusted adult at school or through our confidential reporting systems: Kent
County Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345 or through the OK2SAY website at michigan.gov/okay2say.
We further ask our school community to avoid sharing or reposting potential threats on social media
and instead use our reporting systems.

Together in partnership, we will continue to foster a positive school environment that is conducive
to our students performing at the highest levels. We thank you for your continued support and
cooperation.

Sincerely,

Omar Bakri
Principal
East Kentwood High School
Kentwood Public Schools

Excellence and Equity in Education