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Edgerton taking no chances with bomb threat

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Mark Coombs

EDGERTON — The bomb threat could be for this Friday or could have passed weeks ago, but Edgerton officials don't want to take chances.

Edgerton High School staff will search the building, grounds and students Friday after a student Tuesday found a threat reading "Bomb this Friday" in a boys bathroom stall.

The message was hard to read, so it's hard to know how long it had been there, Principal Mark Coombs said.

"You really had to look hard to find it," he said. "When I initially looked at it, I didn't see it."

Edgerton police and administrators met Tuesday afternoon to decide the best protocol for Friday, according to a letter Coombs sent to parents, students and staff. They decided to search the building and grounds before school and require all students and belongings to be searched upon entering the building.

Coombs encouraged students to limit the belongings, such as backpacks, purses and coats, that they bring to school Friday. He doesn't expect the search to delay the start of the school day, he said.

Students will be allowed to enter only through the main entrance and the student parking lot entrance. Visitors also will be subject to search, the letter says.

The school dealt with threats two years ago, when rumors of a shooting caused administrators to cancel the homecoming pep rally. Coombs doesn't know of any events taking place Friday and doesn't expect any cancellations, he said.

Parents can choose to keep their children home Friday as one of their 10 excused absences, he said. Parents must call the high school to excuse the absence per school policy.

The police department and school administration are investigating the threat, the letter to parents said. An Edgerton officer referred questions to Chief Tom Klubertanz, who was unavailable Tuesday afternoon.

"We feel that the Edgerton School District remains a safe and secure educational environment and consider this an unfortunate but isolated incident," Coombs wrote in his letter.