South Milwaukee School District on 'secure' condition after threat against a South Milwaukee school
Schools in the South Milwaukee School District were in a "secure" status Wednesday after a threat was made toward a school in the district that was determined to not be credible, according to police.
The South Milwaukee Police Department said in a release posted on its Facebook page that at about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, a law enforcement agency in Ozaukee County received a call in which the person made a threat to bring a gun and/or bomb "to a South Milwaukee school."
"The call was anonymous and no other information was provided," the department's Facebook post said.
The department said in its news release that the district's schools were "placed under a secure status" for the rest of the school day while it investigated.
"The threat is not believed to be credible and students continued with their normal class schedule," the department's news release said.
The South Milwaukee School District said in a letter to parents at about 12:45 p.m. that students followed directions and that "everyone stayed safe throughout the day."
"We appreciate your understanding that we made the decision to move into a SECURE for all buildings while we were gathering information and that we stayed in that mode for the remainder of the school day as a matter of caution. Our students were able to participate in their normal school day with little to no changes," the district said in its letter.
An earlier letter from the district to parents said the "secure" status means students conduct their school day as normal but are not allowed to leave the building and no visitors are allowed to enter.
The district's letter also said that dismissal would be held as planned Wednesday afternoon for a previously scheduled early release time. It also said there would be an elevated South Milwaukee Police presence at each school building "and in the surrounding areas."
The district said aftercare at the elementary schools provided by its recreation department would proceed under the district's "secure" protocol, in which the day would proceed as normal but students would stay inside.
High school practices and activities were also scheduled to continue as normal. Students without any official practice or event at the end of the school day were to leave the building and could return after 3 p.m. for any scheduled activities.
The district is planning to resume school as usual on Thursday.
According to the South Milwaukee School District's website, middle and high school students were previously scheduled to be released at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, while elementary school students were previously scheduled to be released at 2:05 p.m. Wednesday.
Wednesday was a previously scheduled professional development day for teachers, according to an earlier email from South Milwaukee School District communication coordinator Dan Bader.
Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Threat made toward South Milwaukee High School
