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Posted by: DeputyFife

Published: March 06, 2008 08:11 am
Bomb scare leads to Georgetown school evacuation
By Stephen Tait
Staff Writer


GEORGETOWN — School officials evacuated Georgetown Middle/High School for three hours yesterday morning after receiving a bomb threat, but by mid-morning the school was declared secure and students were back in class.
Officer Derek Jones, the school resource officer, said a note was found in a girls bathroom at the school, which is shared by middle and high school students. The note said there was a bomb and also included the word "today." Jones did not release the full text.
He said the situation is still under investigation but "we do have some suspects in mind." He would not elaborate.
"Absolutely it is serious," Jones said. "Especially in this day and age. We have to take this seriously, absolutely."
The note was found at about 7:15 a.m., and local public safety officials, along with a State Police bomb squad, responded. Students were evacuated from the school and walked to Perley Elementary nearby.
Principal Peter Lucia said it took about three hours for the police and dogs to search the school. By 10 a.m., students were back in class or in the cafeteria for lunch.
The students "were great," Lucia said. "They were very calm, very cooperative, which is essential when you are in a crisis situation or a potential crisis situation."
Lucia said many parents still picked up students after class resumed because it started to rain heavily during the evacuation. Those who had wet clothes called parents for dry clothes.

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Posted by: DeputyFife

Published: March 07, 2008 06:51 am
Superintendent defends handling of bomb scare
By Katie Curley
Staff Writer


GEORGETOWN — After Wednesday's bomb scare forced middle/high school students into the rain after 30 minutes of class, Selectman Lonnie Brennan wants answers as to how the situation was handled.
"There was a fair amount of anxiety among parents and individuals wondering what happened during the 30 minutes after the discovery until they evacuated," said Brennan, who has two daughters at the school. "At 7:15 a.m., they were still allowing hundreds of kids to enter and put more kids in harm's way."
However, Superintendent Carol Jacobs said it was the consensus among all parties the building was safe and students were in no danger.
A note with the words "bomb" and "today" was found in a girls bathroom shared by the middle and high school at 7:10 a.m. yesterday. School resource officer Derek Jones was immediately on the scene, and within five minutes Jacobs was notified via conference call among Jones, the police and school administration.
Jacobs said they determined the schools would be evacuated at that time.
"The decision was immediately made to evacuate," Jacobs said. "Trained experts said they felt the time line was safe."
Students were evacuated at 7:30 a.m., Jacobs said, and they walked down the street to Perley Elementary School while the school was searched for three hours.
But Brennan and another parent, Rachel Crateau, say the evacuation was closer to 7:45 a.m. They want to know what happened in the 30 minutes between the threat being found and students being evacuated.
"I don't know why there was a delay; they are not saying anything," Crateau said. "There has been no communication as to what actually transpired. It's only hearsay."
Crateau said an e-mail message was sent with minimal facts about the bomb scare, and she is still waiting to hear about the time line of the events and what the actual evacuation plan is for the future.
"We were presented with a situation, and our priority was the safety of the students," Jacobs said. "Certain things were learned. Communication could be better in the future, but I am happy to talk with parents who have concerns."
Jacobs said that since the incident, she has received e-mails from parents commending the administration on the handling of the scare.
"If the kids were all in one place, and you have this information, you should probably start evacuating right away and not let other people into the school," Crateau said, noting she picked up her daughter at the elementary school after hearing rumors about an incident.
Local police as well as the state police bomb squad did a thorough check of the school before students were able to return to the building at 10 a.m.
"People ask why I didn't send the kids back home," Jacobs said. "For one, I wouldn't be able to notify parents that children were on their way back home, maybe to an empty home; it was early enough in the day where students had ample time for lunch and could resume their school day; and most importantly, I'm not sending the message to whoever did this that it was a free day off from school."
"What were they doing? Did they discover something new in the 30 minutes after the discovery that led them to evacuate?" Brennan said.
Brennan said he will question the School Committee about the incident and if there has been any change in policy for evacuations.
"If something changed, then it was justified, but otherwise they were either paralyzed or stupid," he said. "From the outside looking in, having parents continue to drop off kids didn't seem like the brightest thing to do."
Jacobs said she will be meeting with the authorities in a debriefing but is still confident the situation was handled to the best of everyone's ability. The district is purchasing a system that would make e-mail alerts more efficient.
"We have an evacuation procedure, but even with plans, every situation is unique. And I'm certain there was a total team approach," Jacobs said. "At all times the students were safe. I'm absolutely sure of it."
Jacobs urges anyone with questions or problems with the evacuation to contact her directly.

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