Authorities at Fred T. Foard High School were alerted to a bomb threat just after school began Monday, forcing the school to go into lockdown.
The message was written on the wall of a boy’s bathroom, said Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid.
It was found at about 8:20 a.m., and staff at the school immediately implemented safety procedures, said Steve Demiter, assistant superintendent of operations for Catawba County Schools. The school was placed on an internal lockdown while a sweep was conducted of Foard High School’s buildings, grounds and buses by Catawba County deputies and four Gaston County deputies who are K-9 handlers.
Some students were questioned about the note. At about 12 p.m., students were asked to go outside the school for about 20 minutes, before being allowed back inside. When they went back in, the lockdown was lifted and the school was cleared, Reid said.
“We tried to operate as normal a day as possible,” Demiter said.
Reid said he is frustrated because of the manpower and money that were spent on what proved to be a student’s prank.
“You can’t not go check it out because it may be something, but it costs (taxpayers’) dollars,” he said. “It’s six of our deputies, and four from Gaston County, who are not out patrolling and doing their jobs. They searched for five to six hours. What if something had happened in Gaston County while they were up here?”
Demiter said the person responsible for the note has been identified.
“They are being dealt with as far as the code of conduct,” he said. “They will have an initial (10-day) suspension then, once all the information is gathered, we’ll make a final disciplinary action.”
According to the Catawba County Schools’ parent handbook, a bomb threat or hoax must be reported to law enforcement. A principal can recommend to the superintendent that the student receives a 365-day suspension, even if it is the student’s first violation.
Demiter said school officials do not know what the student’s intentions were when writing the note, but said Foard High administration and law enforcement have spoken with the student. He also said the school system could consult with district attorney’s office about criminal charges.
This is the second time this semester Foard High has been on lockdown. In October, a note that threatened harm to students was found at Jacobs Fork Middle. Because the two schools are on properties that sit next to each other, Foard High was placed on a modified lockdown.
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