Rumors of a school shooting plot prompted three school districts to cancel classes today for about 20,000 students in Kootenai County. Although police have not verified a real threat of violence, the persistent rumors rattled many students and parents, and attendance has dropped all week, officials said. “The reason we’re canceling school is not because we think there is a credible threat but because the fear and the panic is just so palpable that we didn’t believe we could have a productive, calm day,” Coeur d’Alene Superintendent Hazel Bauman said. Nerves have been raw since the Connecticut school massacre one week ago, and doomsday scenarios based on the end of the Mayan calendar today have only fueled gossip and worries/Scott Maben, SR. More here.

Question: Did the school districts give in to fear?