BILLINGS — Billings West High School was one of the many schools across the state that received swatting threats Thursday morning, and the disruption was significant to daily operations and the emotional and financial well-being of those involved.
Billings Public Schools received a call around 9:30 a.m. Thursday indicating there was an active shooter outside of West High. The call was later learned to have come from a VPN registered overseas from Sweden. Officers responded immediately and prompted an immediate lockdown.
“We had a high number of officers that came in just to sweep the school just to ensure not only was the exterior and the perimeter secure, but also inside bathrooms, common spaces, those sorts of things. While they were doing the sweep, it was clearly evident that the school had locked down and had locked down well," said BPS school safety and emergency management coordinator Joe Halligan.
Not long after, Billings Skyview High School received a similar call from a VPN registered in the Middle East.
"There was no students and staff who exited the building in a running or there was no fighting. Nobody was injured, thankfully. But there were teachers who did lock and barricade," said Halligan.
Similar threats were reported at schools across the state, including in Kalispell, Butte, Helena, Great Falls, and Bozeman. Elementary schools were also placed under secure status as the situation unfolded, meaning learning continued as normal, but outdoor activities were discontinued and no one was allowed in or out of the building.
The swatting threats, in which a fake emergency is reported to trigger a large law enforcement response, were determined to be a hoax.
“While I hate when these things happen, it does take a lot of time and energy and really does have a cost associated with it,“ said Halligan. "This was the most significant one that has happened this year."
Fake threats like these still take a very real toll.
“Yesterday started out as a situation that could have been very real," said West High English teacher Lance Edward.
For Edward, who is also the president of the Billings Education Association, the swatting effort was just the latest in a seemingly never-ending stream of school threats.
"I can tell you that over the years, these things have happened all too regularly," said Edward. “This is one of the difficulties of teaching in this kind of climate. It is a taxing thing on all the educators. It is something that they weigh every morning when they get up and get out of bed and decide whether to come to work."
The disruption caused by such threats is not just physical but also psychological. For students, the trauma of lockdowns and the fear that a real threat might be looming is a heavy burden to bear. The anxiety felt by students and staff during these events can linger long after the situation is resolved.
“From an education perspective, it interrupts your classroom. It interrupts the thoughts and minds of your students and your fellow teachers, and it is something that is incredibly disruptive every single time that it happens," said Edward. "When I came into school this morning, I had a conversation with a teacher who was quite distraught about yesterday and the impact that it had on her classes, and when you don't know if something is actually happening or not, it can be quite a traumatic event."
In addition to the emotional strain, these hoax threats come at a high cost to taxpayers. TDR Technology Solutions, a New York-based company that tracks how much money school swatting threats cost taxpayers and school districts, released a 2024 report that estimates the country has lost over one billion dollars in the past two years due to these false threats.
The company uses data from school districts and law enforcement in a database and uses their yearly budgets to make their calculations.
“It's much easier to communicate with the public when you use a dollar amount," said the CEO of TDR Technology Solutions Don Beeler.
In 2023, Montana saw 139 safety threats that impacted over 79,000 students and cost the state $4.3 million.
“The last two years, we've been averaging about $500 million a year in threat costs, and it's again, it comes taxpayers are paying for the instruction, but then the students aren't receiving the instruction," said Beeler. "Montana is not alone. We're seeing this across the board in every state."
The lockdowns at Billings West and Skyview high schools only lasted a few hours, but the company estimates the financial cost to the entire district was significant, at nearly $378,421.91. That includes $34,576 in lost instructional time, $174,869 from student absentees, and $168,978 in mental health costs.
“We track lost instructional hours, so in addition to the cost that we're looking at here, all of the cost of the first responders like the police department, things of that nature are in addition to this cost," said Beeler.
Statewide, Beeler said the costs of Thursday's swatting threats adds up to more than $822,000, impacting schools in Billings, Kalispell, Butte, Helena, Great Falls and Bozeman.
"In one day, it went up just under a million dollars in the cost for Montana taxpayers," said Beeler.
For Montana schools, the emotional and financial strain continues to mount.
“It's hard to put a number on that, but I think it's safe to say that it takes a toll on students. It takes a toll on staff," said Halligan. "When we bring a large number of officers to a certain location, it certainly puts a burden on the rest of the city because we've taken resources, we've allocated officers that may otherwise be in different locations of the city.”
Billings schools staff said that while the response to Thursday’s incident was as quick and efficient as possible, thanking efforts from law enforcement and the training staff receives throughout the year, they are under no illusion that this will be the last time such an event occurs.
“It's one of the parts of the job, and that's the unfortunate reality of today's climate," said Edward.
