MEDINA, Ohio — Students at Highland High School in Medina were evacuated to the stadium Monday morning as officials enacted their emergency plan “to address a bomb threat.”
Classes were canceled for the day and students were sent home.
This comes as the Medina County Sheriff's Office said "several" schools within the county "are reporting bomb threats," but stressed "there are no credible threats."
"These calls have been occurring throughout the county at businesses the last several days," according to the sheriff's office. "All have been unfounded and actively investigated."
HIGHLAND HIGH SCHOOL
News of the situation at Highland High School was posted by school officials on Facebook with the following message shortly before 10 a.m.:
Dear Highland Families,
This morning, the Highland Local School District enacted our emergency plan to address a bomb threat that was made at Highland High School.
The high school students are currently evacuating to the highland stadium.
We are currently in the process of calling all of our buses back to the high school. The high school will be dismissed for the day once buses arrive. Student drivers will be permitted to leave.
Students who don’t typically ride the bus, will remain at the stadium until they can secure a ride.
The Highland Local School District staff is currently working with the Medina County Sheriff’s Office to sweep the building.
School will remain in session in all other Highland Local School District Buildings.
Additional information will be shared as soon as available.
3News later received the following update from the district:
This morning, Highland High School received a bomb threat. Emergency plans were enacted and students were evacuated. Out of an abundance of caution, students were dismissed for the day. The Medina County Sheriff’s Office is currently doing a sweep of the building. Per the Medina County Sheriff’s Office, other area educational institutions received similar phone calls this morning and they have found the threats to not be credible.
- Kelli Crawford-Smith, Director of Communications
MEDINA HIGH SCHOOL
Medina High School also reported a threat, with the district notifying parents with the following message:
Dear Medina High School Parents, Guardians, and Students-
At approximately 9:20 a.m., Medina High School received a false bomb threat. Several other schools and businesses within our county received the same call today and over the weekend. We are working with the Medina Police Department, which immediately determined this to be a non-credible threat based on an investigation of the previous threats over the weekend and throughout the morning. Again, please know this is not a credible threat, and there is no safety concern to students and staff.
There will be additional Medina Police presence today out of an abundance of caution. As always, the safety and security of our students and staff are our number one priority, and our day will continue as normal.
MEDINA COUNTY CAREER CENTER
And a similar situation at the Medina County Career Center. Here is their statement:
Good morning, this is Steven Chrisman, Superintendent of the Medina County Career Center. At approximately 9:20 a.m. the Career Center received a false bomb threat. Several other schools and businesses within our county received the same call today and over the weekend. We are working with the Medina County Sheriff’s Department, which immediately determined this to be a non-credible threat based on an investigation of the previous threats over the weekend and throughout the morning. Again, please know this is not a credible threat, and there is no safety concern to students and staff. Students were temporarily placed into a secure-in-place lockdown until further information could be gathered and a sweep of the building could be performed by law enforcement.
There will be additional police presence today out of an abundance of caution. As always, the safety and security of our students and staff are our number one priority, and our day will continue as normal.