By MICHAEL JENSEN
OREM, Utah.- Timpanogos High School was not evacuated after receiving a bomb threat Thursday.
Assistant principal Brad Kendall said a school receptionist answered the call Thursday morning. The caller said there was a bomb at the school and hung up. School policies and procedures were then used to respond to the threat.
A code, known only to faculty and teachers, was broadcast over the school’s public address system. Teachers in each classroom then searched their rooms for suspicious or unusual objects and reported back. Other school staff searched the remainder of the school while police were called. No bombs or other objects were found and students were notified of the events after the initial search.
Although students and staff of Timpanogos High were pleased with the procedures, some concerned parents have called the school and media voicing their concerns.
Kendall said parents were wondering why the school was not evacuated, especially in light of the Columbine shootings. Kendall responded by saying that students are often safer in their classrooms where teachers have a better idea of what belongs in their classroom and what doesn’t.
When schools evacuate, students and faculty are sometimes put in danger when they don’t know where the danger is.
Kendall said, “Evacuation sometimes is not the best thing.”
Kendall referred to the Jonesboro incident where students were evacuated out of the school and then shot as they exited the school. Bombs also went off in the parking lot of Columbine where students may have been evacuated.
Orem Police said the phone call was recorded and traced to a phone booth, however no suspects were found. Police said the voice of the caller was a juvenile.
