Bomb Threat Shuts Down School Again Sandpoint Students Evacuated For Third Straight Day; Officials Call In Bomb-Sniffing Dog From Fairchild

High school and middle school students in Sandpoint have the day off today as law enforcement and administrators search for bombs in the high school.

On Tuesday, for the third school day in a row, students from both schools were evacuated after a student office worker received a bomb threat at the high school.

The call came at about 1:30 p.m., and classes again came to an abrupt halt.

Unlike the past three bomb scares at the high school since the Littleton, Colo., school massacre, authorities Tuesday brought in a bomb-sniffing dog and its handler from Fairchild Air Force Base.

The search with the dog was expected to take 10 hours, and police posted officers at entries to the school parking lots to keep people away from the buildings.

Sandpoint High School Principal A.C. Woolnough would not comment on why Tuesday’s call warranted a visit from the experts when the others did not.

However, on Monday he said that police analyze each call to assess the risk and decide what course of action to take.

At a school board meeting in Clark Fork on Tuesday evening, Woolnough said that the offer of a reward - now set at $500 - for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the callers has resulted in a few tips.

Police are following up on those tips, he said.

Today “we hope to give them time to pursue and maybe conclude one or more of their investigations,” Woolnough said.

Last Friday’s bomb threat was made by a male calling from a phone booth, and Monday’s call was made by a female with a scratchy voice. Police would not say where she called from. Nor would Woolnough release any information about Tuesday’s call.

Students, along with parents, are upset. One mother at Tuesday’s school board meeting said her daughter came home hysterical after the bomb threat.

When one board member suggested that students needed incentive to help nab the perpetrators, Woolnough said, “Believe me, right now, if they could find who did it, the problem would be solved. They are not happy.”

Many parents and students, and some teachers, are unhappy with the way the evacuations have been handled.

“The kids thought there was no plan,” said Melody MacLachlan, a parent. “We need an assembly or something. The teachers are all telling them different things.”

MacLachlan’s children also are worried about whether the schools are being searched well enough.

“My concern is communication,” said parent Kathy Saunders. “Everything we’re hearing is rumors.”

Superintendent Roy Rummler acknowledged that patrons and students have legitimate concerns. While the schools regularly practice fire drills, evacuation procedures for bomb threats are a different matter.

Officials say improving the emergency plans is a high priority in the school district, and a memo was shared with high school faculty Tuesday morning on bomb threat procedures - such as tracing phone calls and evacuating the building.

“I felt better to know there was a plan. It still needs to be polished,” said Marianne Love, a teacher in a portable classroom. Poor communication with teachers in the portables made teachers there uneasy, she said.

“It’s become a terrible stress on staff and students,” Sandpoint Middle School teacher Allison Gilmore said of the bomb threats. “We need to make information available to parents and the community as a whole as to our emergency plan. … We need to stick with that plan.”

Susan Drumheller can be reached at (208) 263-6441 or by e-mail at susand@spokesman.com.