Niles Community Schools Superintendent Daniel Applegate says there will be “counselors, members of our critical support team and safety personnel” on hand Monday at Ballard Elementary School following a bomb threat that evacuated the building Friday.
The district has released the following letter to parents:
At Niles Community Schools, our top priority is the safety and well-being of our students, families, teachers and staff. As you may know, earlier today, the Michigan State Police and Niles Police Department notified the district of an anonymous bomb threat that was made at Ballard Elementary.
Immediately, we evacuated Ballard students to Niles High School so that the police could conduct their investigation. The building and grounds were cleared after a thorough search by police. No threats were made at other Niles Community Schools buildings, and all students are safe and accounted for.
We are saddened that these threats were made against our school community, but as a district, we have emergency protocols in place to address these types of incidents. Today, our school community put these to practice, working together to ensure the safety of students, teachers and staff. We want to thank our teachers for their swift and effective response as well as our students for listening and following directions. We also want to thank parents and families for their patience and understanding. Lastly, we want to thank local law enforcement and the fire department for their assistance and direction.
This situation is still under investigation, and we will continue to work closely with local law enforcement to address this matter. We want our students, families and staff to know that we take this very seriously and will implement additional precautions in the days ahead. We will have counselors, members of our critical support team and safety personnel at Ballard Elementary when students return on Monday.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. As always, thank you for your unwavering support. We will continue to do all we can to create a safe environment for students to learn, grow and play.
Sincerely,
Dr. Daniel Applegate
