For Immediate Release

Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Statement of Superintendent Kathleen Bodie Regarding Phone Threat at Arlington High School

ARLINGTON — Dr. Kathleen Bodie, Superintendent of Arlington Public Schools, releases the following statement regarding threats made to Arlington High School this morning:

“Today, at 8:55 a.m., Arlington Public Schools received a call where threats were made to the safety of our students, faculty and staff.

“This threat appears to be part of a widespread issue that affected multiple school districts across the state over the past two weeks. Despite the fact that this was a widespread issue, we take these threats very seriously. Given the police presence and investigation, and out of an abundance of caution, we decided it would be in our best interests to release students, faculty and staff for the day. This also prevented students and staff from having to stand outside in the cold while police conducted a sweep of the building.

“After police cleared the scene at noon, we reopened the building at 2:30 p.m. for athletic activities, community education, and other school business.

“We take any and all threats seriously and have implemented policies and procedures to ensure that the school remains a safe place at all times. However, we recognize that incidents like this may upset students, so our guidance department will be available on Wednesday to meet with anyone in need.

“We apologize for the disruption this morning, but thank our students, faculty, staff, and families for their cooperation during the evacuation, teachers for ensuring the building was clear before exiting, parents and guardians for picking up your children and waiting to hear information through our alert system and police for working diligently to ensure the building was safe for all to return.”

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