Superintendent Stresses Severity of Punishment After 3rd Bomb Threat at Maumelle School
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: October 2, 2012
Maumelle Middle School evacuated students for the third time in two weeks for yet another bomb threat.
The handwritten note, which school administrators and police believe to be the work of a student copycat was discovered at roughly 1:15 Tuesday afternoon, and sparked evacuations and a police sweep of the campus.
The note gave a window of time before the alleged bomb would go off, and all students were evacuated within the window provided. Like the three prior bomb threats at Maumelle schools, no explosives were found and students were able to return safely to their classrooms.
There have been two Maumelle students arrested on felony charges in connection with the string of threats, and school officials say they're not playing games, even though these copycat students might consider notes like these a practical joke.
"We are recommending that when these students are caught they are expelled, they face felony charges, and that the departments work to recoup the costs of their response in these cases. This is a very, very serious situation. It is not a prank," says PCSSD Superintendent Dr. Jerry Guess.
The district has been activating its phone service to keep parents informed and plans to send out a letter to Maumelle parents on Wednesday.
School officials are also planning on bringing in police to talk to students about the severity of the problem.
Dr. Guess says these students may not be aware that not only could they face charges from these types of threats, but they could also be footing the bill for the police and fire response during an evacuation.
Also, if an accident occurs during a police response, the student could be held liable for that as well, leaving big consequences for one small slip of paper.
The handwritten note, which school administrators and police believe to be the work of a student copycat was discovered at roughly 1:15 Tuesday afternoon, and sparked evacuations and a police sweep of the campus.
The note gave a window of time before the alleged bomb would go off, and all students were evacuated within the window provided. Like the three prior bomb threats at Maumelle schools, no explosives were found and students were able to return safely to their classrooms.
There have been two Maumelle students arrested on felony charges in connection with the string of threats, and school officials say they're not playing games, even though these copycat students might consider notes like these a practical joke.
"We are recommending that when these students are caught they are expelled, they face felony charges, and that the departments work to recoup the costs of their response in these cases. This is a very, very serious situation. It is not a prank," says PCSSD Superintendent Dr. Jerry Guess.
The district has been activating its phone service to keep parents informed and plans to send out a letter to Maumelle parents on Wednesday.
School officials are also planning on bringing in police to talk to students about the severity of the problem.
Dr. Guess says these students may not be aware that not only could they face charges from these types of threats, but they could also be footing the bill for the police and fire response during an evacuation.
Also, if an accident occurs during a police response, the student could be held liable for that as well, leaving big consequences for one small slip of paper.
