Recently, Wescott Junior High School has had a series of bomb threats. The purpose of my message is to assure the students, parents, staff and community that the school department takes every one of these threats very seriously. We have a very comprehensive and effective procedure that involves several city departments in the ultimate decision as to whether we evacuate the building and/or send the students home. The schools basically use a three-step procedure in the event of a bomb threat. The School Committee approved procedure was jointly developed by the Westbrook Police Department, Westbrook Fire and Rescue Department and the Westbrook School Department nearly six years ago.
1. If the building administrator has just reason to believe that the danger is immediately present, then the building will be evacuated immediately.
2. Otherwise, the administrator will call 911 and request that the dispatcher send a police administrator/senior officer and fire administrator/senior officer to the school building to make a bomb threat assessment. The superintendent of schools/designee will also be called to assist in the bomb threat assessment.
3. The Bomb Threat Assessment Team (building administrator, police, fire and superintendent/designee) will review the information and provide input as to the severity of the incident and the decision as to what additional precautionary steps are warranted.
In all of the incidents, it was the unanimous recommendation of everyone present on the Bomb Threat Assessment Team to take the action that we did.
To date, three students at Wescott Junior High School have come forward to admit their involvement. They all considered their actions nothing more than a joke. Unfortunately, their actions will result in an immediate suspension from school with an expulsion from school hearing by the Westbrook School Committee. It is critical that students understand that these are serious actions that result in serious consequences. I urge each parent/guardian to talk with your son/daughter and impress upon them the implications of this type of behavior.
The Westbrook School Committee will be reviewing our current policy to see if any changes to the policy should be made. If there are citizen’s who have suggestions for changes, please contact me or a School Committee member.
This article was submitted by School Superintendent Stan Sawyer.
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