Bellwood-Antis students were briefly evacuated to Memorial Stadium on Wednesday as a precaution following a bomb threat hoax that has been spreading in Western Pennsylvania.
Students were moved to the stadium just before noon, with high school students seated by homerooms in the home bleachers on the southwest side of the field. Middle school and Myers Elementary students sat in the visitors bleachers on the northeast side.
Head of district security Officer Tim Mercer explained to students that they were evacuated so police could examine the building but that there was no credible reason to believe a bomb was present. He said a similar hoax threat was perpetrated in schools near Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
Other schools in Blair County received the hoax threat as well, including Tyrone and Hollidaysburg.
Here is a transcript of the email sent to families in the district from the district office:
An email hoax of a bomb threat has been circulating to Pennsylvania schools since Monday. The Bellwood-Antis School District received the email today. Though identified as being a hoax, we have temporarily evacuated all buildings thus enabling law enforcement and school resource professionals to do a safety sweep of all buildings as an extra safety precaution.
There is no danger to the schools at this time. Once the buildings are clear, students will resume their normal school day.
Students returned to their buildings at approximately 12:20.
The BuePrint will have further coverage of this story on Thursday.
