Bomb threat forces
school evacuation

KAUKAUNA - A middle school in Kaukauna was evacuated for two hours on Friday, in response to its second bomb threat in a week. School officials say this latest threat was a note found in the girls bathroom. It said a bomb would explode Friday at noon at the school. FOX 11 has learned all the students are safe, but the evacuation did make for an usual day for students.

In all, about 1,000 students from River View Middle School were evacuated. Rows of school buses took the children off the school property.

School officials believe the threats were pranks, but say whoever is responsible will face stiff penalties.

"It's a felony, they get referred immediately to juvenile court," said Lloyd McCabe, the Kaukauna School District Superintendent.

McCabe says the person responsible for this latest threat has not been caught, but he believes it is a 5th or 6th grade girl because the note was found in the girls bathroom.

McCabe also says the person he believes was responsible for last week's threat was a boy, and will only say that boy is no longer attending the school.

Despite both threats, McCabe says students are safe and school officials are on alert.

"We had the cleaning staff and teachers on full alert looking for anything unusual. But nonetheless, it takes something pretty big to do the kind of damage people worry about," said McCabe.

The students were brought to Kaukauna High School for their lunch break. School officials would not allow the media in the building for privacy reasons. Though they do tell FOX 11 that in addition to eating their lunches, the students were lectured on the consequences of making bomb threats.

"We don't want to continue the copycat string," said McCabe.

While the students were at the high school, police searched the empty middle school for any signs of bombs.

"I appreciate the fact that the school district is responding to the threat," said Dawn Schlow, the mother of a middle school child.

However, a different parent who did not want to talk on camera, is upset with school officials and tells us the evacuation was a huge distraction for students.

The district stands by its decision to evacuate and says nothing suspicious was found during the sweep of the middle school.

Parents were notified Thursday about the planned evacuation. School officials said very few parents pulled their children out of school because of the threat.

The Kaukauna School District also sent emails, phone messages, and letters to parents yesterday, after the second threat was found.

Kaukauna Police declined comment on the evacuation.