HENRYETTA, Okla. — Henryetta Public Schools are closed Wednesday, October 23, due to an ongoing investigation of a possible threat. The school district posted on its Facebook page classes would resume when the investigation is complete.
Henryetta schools will be back to business as usual October 24; a school official tells 2 Works for You that includes normal security.
Parents learned about the closure around 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night. A couple hours later, police found the threat was not credible, but school remained closed.
According to a school official, the schools will be back to normal schedule with their normal security on campus.
Students today say they're not too worried about going back. But parents, even knowing the threat was not credible, will have this in the back of their minds.
"It’s scary in today’s age, especially how old the kid was to say something like that," said Shane Howell, a parent of multiple Henryetta students. "Knowing the consequences that could happen, and school getting shut down.”
Henryetta Police Chief Steven Norman tells 2 Works for You "finger pointing" and he-said-she-said started the problem. He added the department takes every threat seriously, but he's happy this threat didn't turn out to be credible.
On Wednesday morning, Superintendent Dwayne Noble confirmed school would be resuming on Thursday after police found the alleged verbal threat to be not true. He said they would use a snow day after canceling classes.
The Henryetta Police Department released a statement after midnight saying they found "no evidence to support a credible threat" after conducting multiple interviews.
Henryetta Public Schools and the Henryetta Police Department take any potential threat very serious. We have been in close communication with the school and even though classes Wednesday are cancelled, we jointly agree to always err on the side of caution when it comes to school safety.
Also, an FCCLA trip that was planned at the school today has been canceled, according to the school district's Facebook page.
The superintendent said the only school activity that was allowed to continue was the high school's marching band. A school bus carrying 45 students and staff left early Wednesday morning toward McAlester High School to compete in the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association regional marching band competition.
About 1,200 students pre-K through 12th grades attend Henryetta Public Schools.
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