AUSTINTOWN School cleared in bomb threats

The principal estimated that 40 percent of the pupils were absent today.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A note scribbled on a half sheet of paper has made for a hectic two days for pupils and faculty at Austintown Middle School.
The school was to be evacuated today and was evacuated Tuesday after a piece of paper with a bomb threat was found in a hallway by an eighth-grader.
The note, which was crumpled, written in pencil and barely legible, said a bomb would go off "here" at 11:13 Tuesday and at 3:30 today. Pupils were taken out of the school Tuesday, but classes resumed after 11:13 a.m.
Normal dismissal time at the school is 3:35 p.m., but school officials also planned to evacuate the building again today before 3:30 p.m. Many parents, however, were not going to wait that long.
Parents enter
At the start of the school day, several parents could be seen walking their children into the school and inquiring about the note and how officials were going to handle the 3:30 p.m. threat. A receptionist in the school's main office spent the early hours fielding calls from concerned parents, many of whom elected to keep their kids home.
Principal Dan Bokesch estimated that 40 percent of pupils were absent from school today.
Evacuation plan
School officials explained to parents the plan to evacuate the building at 3:15 p.m., when the pupils would be led to the rear of the building, where school buses would be waiting. Parents were also told they could pick up their kids early and were given a school release explaining the situation.
Bokesch, who has a sign reading "We take threats seriously" above his office door, said the school is taking every precaution to ensure the safety of pupils and teachers at the school.
"I believe there is a 99.9 percent chance that this is a hoax, but you always have to do what is right, just in case," he said. "We follow a protocol for any incident that is safety-related."
Building checked
Bokesch said teachers and custodial staff canvassed the building before the start of classes and would be on the lookout throughout the day in less-frequented areas of the building. Township police searched the building Tuesday.
Bokesch said that the note may have been left by a mischievous pupil but that it is unlikely that the attention given to the note will encourage other pupils to do the same. He said if the note turns out to be a hoax by a pupil, the responsible party will be arrested and recommended for expulsion.
"This is domestic terrorism the way I look at it. It may have been written by a 13-year-old, but it is still domestic terrorism," he said. "This has affected a lot of people."