Floyd Central receives bomb threats

By JENNIFER RIGG
Jennifer.Rigg@newsandtribune.com

October 24, 2006 09:33 pm

— Repeated bomb threats to Floyd Central High School were called into 911 dispatch Tuesday claiming a bomb would be set off inside the school Wednesday, but officials have chosen to carry on with classes as usual.
Floyd County Chief Frank Loop said the initial threat came in about 10:30 a.m., during which the caller declared plans to “blow up the building” Wednesday. Students were immediately evacuated from the building, but were allowed to re-enter the gymnasium after it was cleared by police and a private contractor’s bomb-sniffing dog. Police continued to search the rest of the school and found no evidence of any bomb, but all after-school activities were canceled as a safety precaution.
Loop said at least three more calls came in over the course of the day Tuesday and were continuing to come into dispatch Tuesday night. He did not say whether the caller was a man or a woman but did say the person was “trying to disguise their voice.”
Loop called the investigation a “sensitive one” and said “every avenue would be used to track the 911 calls.”
A letter from the school’s principal was sent home with each student informing parents of the situation and assuring them that appropriate safety measures were taken Tuesday and would again be taken Wednesday (see related link on the newsandtribune.com Web site). The letter was also posted on the school corporation’s Web site.
“This kind of incident brings with it considerable alarm regarding school safety,” Principal John Marsh wrote in the letter. "It also causes the school to lose valuable instructional time.
“I want you to know that school safety is our first concern,” Marsh continued. “Please have a serious conversation with your son or daughter regarding school safety and the importance of reporting any information they may have or they may have overheard.”
“Everybody wants to error on the side of safety, but the problem with dealing with the people that call bomb threats in is that if you show them you’re reacting to their threats, we’re going to have one everyday. How many days can you send these kids home or alter their schedules?” said
Dave Rarick, New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp.'s director of communications.
He added officials were standing behind their decision to not cancel Wednesday’s classes and that police and the bomb-sniffing dog would be back at the high school early Wednesday morning to conduct another search of the building and campus.
“The educational process has to go on,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. “You can’t hold it for ransom just because of a call. We feel like the kids are safe. There is no threat.”
Rarick said if parents disagreed, they were more than welcome to keep their kids home from school Wednesday. While he could not say for certain, he said it was unlikely students would suffer any repercussions for not attending classes.
Rarick and Loop encouraged anyone with information to call the school safety hotline at 800-418-6423 ext. 359. Anonymous tips can also be left on the school’s Web site at www.nafcs.k12.in.us