A bomb threat to the school Tuesday, Oct. 17 interrupted classes for about 90 minutes. What could have been total chaos, was not.  Administration and staff should be commended for the way they handled the threat, as do the students for their conduct during the incident.

When the initial threat came in, the administration closed down the school, locked all the doors. No one could enter or exit the school until emergency personnel secured the perimeter. But no hint of that severity was betrayed when staff and students were told to go into lock-out. None. At that point, no one was worried. Curious, yes, but not at the point of hysteria.

Then the students were asked to leave the building. Principal Mr. Greg Wright did sound a little concerned over the intercom, but he stayed calm throughout his message keeping the students calm.

Once outside, the staff reassured their students to avoid panic. Numerous staff members were honest, saying that they didn’t know what was going on. Students phoned their parents creating a line of traffic at each major intersection near the school, but again the first responders and the staff accommodated the concerned parents and the safety of those already on campus.

An email was sent out a few minutes into the evacuation, briefly summarizing what was going on. Oh sure, social media exploded (the closest thing to a bomb on campus), with concerned students and a little drama, but everything was fine.

We were asked to move back, we did. We were asked to move to the MPF, we did.The change in location went smoothly – still no one panicked. Staff did their best to keep track of students, and for the most part succeeded.

Of course, there was a bit of grumbling. It was hot and humid in the MPF; people were sweating. A multitude of students couldn’t understand why we were all put into one location. There was a little worry about personal belongings being left in the building. But teenagers always find things to complain about. Luckily, everyone walked away fully capable of grumbling.

When the all clear was sounded, far more attempts to take a student out of school were made then the office could possibly handle. So the administration did another admirable thing: they created an impromptu check-out system to regulate all the students leaving.

Over 1,200 students seized the opportunity of capitalizing on their parents’ fears and took a half day off on Tuesday. Kind of ridiculous, but the administration nonetheless stepped up to calm anxious parents.

The caller turned out to be a minor from McKinney North High School, not one of our own. After all, we are one. In short, for handling the safety of more than 2,700 people, the administration and staff are the bomb.