On Wednesday school officials and police in Bruceville-Eddy were still taking extra precautions after a rumored threat caused a third of the student population to miss class on Tuesday.
Parents were quickly notified; and, after investigating, police said there was no credible threat. This left some to wonder if student absences would be excused. Only six percent of students in the district did not show up Tuesday, but a heavy police presence could still be seen throughout the campus.
The Bruceville-Eddy Police Department only has six officers. Police Chief Bill McLean said half of them were being used to watch over the school even though the threat was deemed non-credible. He said you can never take situations like these lightly. Bruceville-Eddy ISD Superintendent Richard Kilgore said the district would consider Tuesday's absences as excused because all the students’ parents called in concerned about their children's safety. The superintendent said he wanted the incident to be a learning lesson.
Parents have to sit down with their students and communicate with them and have a discussion,” Kilgore said. “If they hear anything that has to do with a threat at the school, communicate with staff, faculty, and administration instead of just passing it on to other kids and not tell anybody. If we can learn that from this, then at least we will gain something.”
Kilgore said the requirement from the state's standpoint is that a student must be in class 90-percent of the time.
Chief McLean said there would be an increase in officers on campus for the remainder of the week.