Incident at High School on March 6, 2012

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your cooperation during our bomb threat dismissal today at the high school. Moving approximately 2,000 people from one place to the other, when time is of the essence due to the cold, is no small undertaking. Everyone from the students, staff, administration, and local authorities helped make things run as smooth as possible.

This incident remains an open investigation, but I can share that the high school administration was made aware of a high school specific bomb threat around lunch time. They immediately reported it to me, and we initiated our school safety plan for such events. Our transportation department had warm buses waiting for our students and staff and it took approximately eight minutes for everyone to be on a bus.

Within twenty minutes everyone was accounted for, and we just waited for direction from the police as to how long it would take to properly sweep the building to make it all clear to return. We learned that it was going to take longer than the regular school day, so we decided to dismiss students and by approximately 1:34 p.m. all of the buses were on the way to deliver students home.

We used Twitter (@cbrownwgcsd), SNN, our website, and Facebook to keep people informed as we worked through the process. I am very appreciative of all of the parents, students, and members of the media who "re-tweeted" or shared our factual and timely information so that everyone knew that all involved were safe, warm, and were going to get home safely.

We are actively investigating leads and hope to have a culprit in custody shortly.  Again, thank you for your patience, cooperation, and action. We will see you back at school bright and early tomorrow.

Chris