Events like this do bring schools to a stop. Sure, attendance still happens, but no educating happens. Other events cause similar results: prom, winning state in some sport, or lockdowns for various real and imagined threats.
Given that the stated purpose of school is learning[1], things that massively interfere with that shouldn't be taken lightly.
1. There are a lot of arguments to be made that this is really a much lower priority.
Does the author maybe mean a bunch of people were gossiping?
I hardly see the alarmist tone as justified. But people need SOMETHING to write about I suppose.