Fayette County school district is back to normal schedule following bomb threats.
On Sept. 21, officials evacuated Frederick Douglass, Henry Clay, Lafayette, and Paul Laurence Dunbar high schools after all four schools received bomb threats phoned into the district’s tip line at noon. The threat also included a demand for $500,000 in the form of a Bitcoin payment. The threat is believed to have come from a source outside of the Fayette County school district.
Students were evacuated to the football stadiums, where they remained until the end of the school day. Parents were initially cautioned by authorities against coming to the school, but concerned parents showed up in spite of the warnings.
Superintendent Demetrus Liggins released a statement to parents following commencement of the evacuation. “Law enforcement officers are inspecting the buildings for any potential threat before students and staff will be allowed to return,” Liggins’ statement reads. “We will keep you updated on this developing situation.”
The schools began steadily releasing students around 2 pm, implementing a checkout process to ensure student safety.
According to the twitter account of the PLD Lamplighter, Paul Laurence Dunbar’s school newspaper, students were relocated to the cafeteria 20 minutes prior to the end of the school day. The threat made the rounds during many students’ lunch period, so they had not eaten in several hours.
All after school activities were cancelled. Roads in the immediate vicinity of the school were also temporarily shut down.
Gov. Andy Beshear took to twitter to praise Fayette County officials for their handling of the situation. “Thank you to the emergency response teams and leaders of @FCPSKY for taking quick action to evacuate area schools to keep our students, teachers and staff safe following today’s threat,” Beshear wrote.
As of the evening of Sep. 21, Frederick Douglass, Lafayette, and Paul Laurence Dundar high schools have been cleared following building inspections, while Henry Clay is still being inspected.
