Springboro policy on taking telephone calls making bomb threats
The following guidelines may be helpful when a telephone caller announces a bomb threat.
A. Be alert to any of the following background sounds that may give a clue to the location of the caller:
radio playing, voices, sirens, construction noise, TV, whistles, traffic noise, bells
B. Ask the caller:
Where is the bomb located?
What time is it to go off?
What kind of a bomb is it?
What is your name?
Where are you calling from?
C. Make a note about speech characteristics such as:
male, female, low tone, high pitch, stutter or stammer, regional or foreign accent
D. Note impressions such as:
Does the voice sound familiar?
Does the caller sound sincere?
Does the caller seem familiar with the school?
E. Write down exactly what the caller says; ask him/her to repeat the message.
F. Try to signal someone about the nature of the conversation while you keep the caller on the line.
Source: Springboro Community City Schools
Springboro Schools Emergency Procedures
The primary consideration in any emergency situation must be the safety of the students and staff. At certain times, therefore, it may be necessary to ask the staff to perform “beyond the call of duty” in order to provide for the welfare of our students. In the event of an actual emergency situation, all school personnel, instructional and non-instructional, will be required to remain in the building until they are dismissed by the principal.
Evacuation
A. When an emergency occurs the principal shall consult, when feasible, with the SRO (main office) concerning whether to evacuate the school. An announcement will then be made to inform staff and students of the emergency procedures that will be followed.
B. If a decision is made to send students home or to a pre-selected site, attempts will be made to notify parents by telephone and/or by radio or TV, and the public address system will be used to inform all teachers and students.
The professional and classified staff members will supervise the orderly evacuation of the building.
1. If time permits, all students will go to their lockers, unlock them, take a coat if weather requires, and return to class leaving lockers open.
2. Teachers should take class rolls, including, addresses and telephone numbers of students as well as emergency information.
3. Teachers will remain (or return) to their regular classrooms and remain with their students.
4. Clerical personnel will remain at their regular stations except in cases of reassignment by their immediate supervisor.
5. Cafeteria personnel will remain in their areas until notified to the contrary by the main office.
C. In case of bomb threat, the fire, police, or sheriff’s department and the principal will search the building.
Source: Springboro Community City Schools
Classes will resume at Springboro High School today after school was closed Thursday so a company specializing in searching ventilation systems ensured the building was safe.
Officials also weighed the costs and benefits of such responses.
Nothing was found during the search by a contractor paid $2,000 for the search, but new procedures were being instituted for students entering the school.
“Running a school district is about doing what’s best for kids,” Superintendent Todd Petrey said at a school board meeting Thursday. No one from the public spoke on the issue.
Under the new policies, students will not be permitted to enter the building before 7 a.m. and will enter only through the doors to the school commons, beginning at 7 a.m.
“Additional rules will be discussed with students at the beginning of the school day on Friday,” according to a statement on the district web site.
Before the new rules were issued, Springboro Police Chief Jeff Kruithoff said there had been discussions with school officials about changing district policy to minimize time lost in class responding to false threats.
“I do think at some point you reach a line saying, ‘These are not credible threats,’” Kruithoff said.
School officials said they evacuated and dismissed early on Wednesday, and closed the school Thursday to ensure student safety.
The school was evacuated, after a threat was found on the wall of the school, including the the words ‘bomb’, ‘ventilation’ and ‘five days’.
All evening activities Wednesday were canceled, including a baseball game and JROTC banquet. Testing deadlines were extended to allow for tests prevented by Thursday’s closing.
“We take all threats seriously,” said the district’s statement.
Other school activities went on Thursday. The school board met tonight at 6 p.m. at the junior high school, next door on South Main Street, and all schools and activities were reinstated.
Board policy lays out procedures for answering calls making bomb threats and what to do in the case of bomb threats and evacuation, but doesn’t specify a procedure for assessing the seriousness of the threat.
“Their protocol is to err on the side of caution,” Kruithoff said.
Police found nothing during a sweep of the high school building Wednesday, but the district decided to hire specialists to search the building’s ventilation system.
Kruithoff said some districts conduct a preliminary search before deciding whether to evacuate the building, particularly when receiving one of the robotic calls that were placed to numerous districts recently.
“Some were even originating out of the country,” he said.
Unless something suspicious is found, no evacuation is made and “they go on with business as usual.”
Still Kruithoff emphasized his respect for the decisions about evacuations made by the school officials.
“Those decisions lie with the school. We will support them,” he said.
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