AUGUSTA — Cony High School was placed under a lock-in order and closed on Tuesday afternoon after what police say is the school’s third bomb threat in a week.
Lt. Kevin Lully, of the Augusta Police Department, said in a news release that police dispatchers got a call at 12:20 p.m. about a possible bomb threat at the school, on Pierce Drive. The Augusta School District said on its website that nobody was being let in or out of the building as of 12:35 p.m. and students were released at 1:45 p.m.
The school was searched by Maine State Police bomb-sniffing dogs and reopened about 4 p.m. for voting, which was moved to the Augusta Civic Center when the school was closed, said Sgt. Vicente Morris, of the city police.
It’s the third time in a week that police have been called to the school, which was vacated on Monday and June 2 because of threats that police said were written on bathroom walls. Morris said since it’s early in the investigation of the threat, it’s “too early to tell” if it’s linked to the other ones.
Meanwhile, procedural changes have been made at the school. Principal Kim Silsby said in an email that students now are being asked to sign in and out of classrooms, and staff members have increased their presence in public areas and are doing safety checks in bathrooms.
“Whenever a school has a threat, the learning is disrupted,” Silsby said. “Teachers and staff are doing their best to keep our learning community as normal as possible.”
The last day of school for the year is Tuesday, June 16.
Michael Shepherd — 370-7652
Twitter: @mikeshepherdme
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