On an average day at the Montauk School, it’s normal for around 13 or 14 students to be absent, amounting to 4 percent of the school’s enrollment of 328. On Friday, its absences jumped to 23 percent — about 75 children — after a social media post threatening violence went viral and whipped families into a frenzy across the nation.
Just 13 days earlier, there had been a school shooting in Oxford Township, Mich., in which a 15-year-old boy killed four other high school students. And Dec. 12 marked the nine-year anniversary of the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, in which 20 students and six adults were killed.
Police departments on the South Fork confirmed before Friday that the threat was not credible in this region. They posted officers at nearly every school just to be sure, but many parents weren’t taking their chances.
“They were scared because of what they heard,” Jack Perna, the superintendent and principal of the Montauk School, said this week.
Montauk employs armed security guards and brought in extra help for the day so there were two guards stationed outside and one inside. The East Hampton Town Police Department sent in one of its officers, too.
“I felt like we were protected,” Mr. Perna said. “It was a hoax . . . but these days you have to take it somewhat seriously. You can’t disregard it.”
School officials in East Hampton, Sag Harbor, and Springs also reported that many more students than usual stayed home from school on Friday because of the unfounded threat.
In the East Hampton School District, Adam Fine, the superintendent, said high school attendance was on par with a typical day. The middle school, however, had 65 students out — twice as many as usual. And the 102 absences at the elementary school amounted to an increase of more than three times the average.
“Parents who reached out were told it is their choice [and] that we would have a greater security presence at all buildings,” Mr. Fine said in an email. “For those who asked, I indicated I would be sending my elementary and high school-age children to school those days, but stressed that it is an individual parent’s choice.”
In Springs the absentee rate was 23 percent, Debra Winter, the superintendent, said. Her Sag Harbor counterpart, Jeff Nichols, reported that 12 percent of elementary school students and 20 percent of middle and high school students stayed home.
“Unfortunately, we live in a world where these incidents do occur,” Mr. Nichols said. “Given what has transpired in our nation, I can’t fault parents for feeling nervous or concerned. It’s a human reaction. Even though we were careful to put something out that said there is no credible threat, I think it was still unnerving for many.”
The Sagaponack School did not report any abnormal absences on Friday. School officials in Amagansett and Wainscott did not respond to requests for comment.
At the Bridgehampton School, Mary Kelly, the superintendent, said the rate of absenteeism was average — not elevated in any way. “We did notify our families about the situation,” she said. While the threats were not deemed credible, “nonetheless we were taking it very seriously. The police sent the school resource officer to spend the day with us. All of the administrators were out on arrival, welcoming the kids, making them feel safe and comfortable, and reassuring families that it was safe to be at school.”
On Friday morning, the East Hampton Town Police Department said on Facebook that “there are no such threats specific to schools in our region.”
Sgt. Kenneth Alversa, a widely respected school resource officer here, said by email on Tuesday that the department “has a great working relationship with all of the schools within our jurisdiction, and we are in regular contact with all school administrations when it comes to safety.”
“As a result of the information that was circulating around social media, and out of an abundance of caution, E.H.T.P.D., like many police departments around the country, increased our presence in and around schools this past Friday,” he wrote. “We got a lot of positive feedback from students, teachers, and parents alike.”
Last week’s hoax was far from the first time that social media posts have been blamed for wrongdoing in schools on various scales. Earlier this year, a TikTok trend called “devious licks” encouraged students to commit acts of vandalism, violence, theft, or other infractions and then post videos of their actions. Locally, an East Hampton High School student got in trouble for stealing a live snake from a science classroom and then posting about it.