Superintendent Wendell Burns said the Pattonsburg R-2 School was dismissed early this morning after custodians discovered a bomb threat.
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Mr. Burns said the custodians were cleaning at about 9:30 this morning, Wednesday, April 25, when they entered the visiting girls locker room in the gymnasium. They found a message written in soap on a mirror in the bathroom. The message read, "Help me, there’s a bomb somewhere."
The custodians immediately contacted Mr. Burns who gathered the students in the gym briefly before loading them on the school buses. Mr. Burns called the sheriff’s office and they contacted the Missouri Highway Patrol and the ATF. Officers from those departments began sweeping the building, Mr. Burns said, checking for any bombs or any related material.
Mr. Burns said parents and media were contacted to inform them that the school was dismissed at 10:15, although students were actually on the waiting buses before that time.
The students remained calm, Mr. Burns said, and did exactly as they were instructed to do. He said he thought the officers would complete the sweep of the building by early this afternoon. He said school would resume tomorrow if the officers gave the all clear.
"I’m hopeful they don’t find anything; I don’t think they will," said Mr. Burns. "I think it’s a very, very poor decision on somebody’s part to do this. And I’m very disappointed that somebody would."
Mr. Burns added: "We have a great group of kids and we have a great school system. I want everybody to know that, and not think poorly of the kids because of this."