Another positive day at Alden-Conger School
Published 9:34 pm Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Only 3 students stayed home because of concerns about threat
ALDEN — A week after officials first found a threat written on a bathroom wall at Alden-Conger School, police are continuing to investigate the incident, said Alden Police Chief Kris Harpham Tuesday afternoon.
Harpham declined to speak about whether the department was investigating any new leads, simply noting the case is part of an “ongoing investigation.”
Alden-Conger School Superintendent Joe Guanella said things went well at the school Tuesday, with only three students not attending classes because they were still concerned about the threat.
That is up from the 80 percent attendance at the school on Monday.
The threat, which included Monday’s date, was of specific concern because of its correlation to the school shooting on March 21, 2005 in Red Lake.
The threat at Alden-Conger — which has not been released to the public in its entirety — launched school officials and officers to put the school on lockdown Friday, looking for any weapons or handwriting connected to the message.
When they were unable to find anything, they decided to move forward with classes Monday — but with added security of exits and hallways in the building. Harpham said the same plan in place Monday and Tuesday will continue Wednesday, or until further notice.
Student movement for sixth- through 12th-graders during the school day was greatly reduced and tightly supervised, while the younger students, age kindergarten through fifth grade, had a nearly normal day.
Reflecting Harpham’s comments, Guanella said the school will continue the law enforcement presence and control the movement of the sixth- through 12th-graders.