Lebanon — Lebanon High School students and faculty spent the better part of Thursday morning at the football stadium — not the classroom. They were evacuated from the school building as a precaution after a bomb scare.
LHS Principal Kevin O’Rourke said, “Sorry for the extended recess,” over the loudspeaker as he dismissed students from the bleachers and sent them back to their classrooms at about 11 a.m.
The threat began shortly before midnight Wednesday when police were notified that an amateur radio operator heard someone saying there was a bomb in the school. The threat gave a specific time and location for the alleged explosion.
Lebanon Community School Corp. Dr. Robert Taylor said he has experienced several different kinds of bomb threats during his years as an educator, but never via ham radio.
“This is a first,” he said.
Authorities responded immediately by searching the school, and no explosive device was found. Administrators arrived at school at 7 a.m. and followed the school’s protocol and safety procedures, Taylor said.
“It’s a great exercise for this sort of thing,” he said.
One of the renovation projects slated for Lebanon High School would improve security at the school. Taylor said if that work had already been done, it would have helped Thursday’s situation. “Things could have been done if we’d had a surveillance system, rather than just physical inspection,” he said.
The school was evacuated about 10 minutes before the threatened event as a precaution. Once trained dogs from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department cleared the building, the more than 1,030 students and about 120 faculty returned to normal.
“The kids have been fantastic,” Taylor said, also praising the response of local law enforcement.
He said the incident likely cost between $2,000 and $3,000 in staff time, along with lost student instruction time.
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