Bomb threat not substantiated at River Ridge; district works to ensure student safety
By Correne Martin
A bomb threat was found written on a middle school boys' bathroom wall at River Ridge Schools Wednesday, Jan. 29, as Superintendent Clay Koenig confirmed. The Grant County Sheriff's Department quickly responded, and after a careful search of the building, authorities found no bomb or alarming foreign objects. According to Koenig, protocol was followed every step of the way and student safety was top priority.
"Every move we made obviously had the kids' safety first and foremost in our minds," Koenig stated Thursday morning.
He explained that at about 12:35 p.m., a teacher reported a message on the bathroom wall. After verifying it, administration first informed the sheriff's department. There was already a deputy int he building, as the sheriff's department regularly visits the site for a walk-through and for relations purposes, Koenig said. The deputy informed his superiors and, within minutes, 10 personnel from the sheriff's department were on scene.
The school was placed in a soft lockdown and a sweep of lockers, locker rooms, etc, was performed by law enforcement and school employees. The school's bus company, WARCO, was notified to be on standby if the threat would have been substantiated. After the first initial sweep turned up nothing, the students were then told they would take part in a modified evacuation. They were able to use the restrooms, get bundled up, and head to predetermined rally points away from the school. Every student was out by 1:50 p.m. At that time, members of the safety committee, Grant County Sheriff's Department, administration, and the custodial staff did another sweep of the classrooms and school.
"After meeting with everyone to reassure that we covered the entire school, the students were allowed to reenter the school," Koenig said. Then, assemblies were held for the elementary, middle school and high school. The assemblies were led by members of the administration to debrief the students and make sure they were informed and that they were safe. During this entire process, there were also two detectives working to figure out the source of the threat, he noted.
Koenig shared the following message, which was sent out to parents:
"The threat was made in regards to a bomb going off at a specific time; that time was 2 p.m. School administration followed protocols and contacted the Grant County Sheriff's Office. Grant County Sheriff's Department, along with school employees, swept the entire school, nothing was found and the threat was found as only that, a threat. As a precaution, we had a modified drill in which the students were able to grab their coats, hats, and mittens and were evacuated at 1:50 and returned to the building 2:10. During that time, another sweep was done to the school by administration and the Grant County Sheriff's Department. Once the students re-entered the building, they were given a debriefing of the situation and allowed to ask questions."
Koenig said Grant County detectives are working with administration to find out who is responsible, though he relayed that the student's name would not be released.
"Everything that took place was to ensure student safety," he reiterated in a statement Thursday. "The district has had some concerns regarding the timing of when parents were notified. I would like to say that I understand their concerns; however, the time that would have been set aside for that would have taken away from our first priority of the students' safety. Had parents been notified earlier, there would have been several phone calls coming into our command post as well as parents showing up to the school to gather their children. This, in turn, would have taken away from the procedures that were taking place to ensure the students' safety."
Koenig concluded by sharing the portion about school administrative procedures for a bomb threat from the district's Critical Incident Management Guide, and again stating that protocol was followed "every step of the way."
"1.Ensure law enforcement has been notified.
2. Evacuate the building if necessary.
3. It is the responsibility of administration, police, and who received the threat to make a determination of the seriousness of the threat.
4. After a careful search of the building, if no bomb or foreign objects are found, school will continue as usual. In the event any such objects are discovered immediate plans for evacuation go into effect.
5. Follow state statute for legal consequences."
