Students at Kimball High, 3200 Jaguar Run, were led to the stands at the school’s football stadium just before 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 14, following a phone call that there was a bomb inside the building, according to Jessica Cardoza, spokeswoman for Tracy Unified School District.
Cardoza said the phone call was received by an office employee at another school around 1:20 p.m. The district office was contacted, and the decision was “almost immediately made to evacuate,” she said.
The threat was not considered credible however Cardoza said students were evacuated because the district takes every threat “as a very serious thing.”
“Based on the call, and that the bomb was said to be in a very specific location, the district felt very safe and confident having the students go to the bleachers,” she said.
District policy dictates that bomb-sniffing dogs are used to sweep a school where a bomb threat is made. Cardoza said the district has a contract with the Modesto-based service, Kontraband Intradiction and Detection Services Inc.
She said the threat is thought to be an isolated incident, and was uncertain if students from Kimball placed the call.
Nearly two hours later, a second bomb threat was found in a bathroom at Tracy High, according to Cardoza.
School was already dismissed however the campus, 315 E. 11th St., was cleared of any remaining students and staff, she said.
On Wednesday, March 13, the students were evacuated to Lincoln Park around 2:05 p.m. when bomb threats were found on the walls of two boys bathrooms.
According to Cardoza, Tracy police arrested three Tracy High students on Thursday in connection with Wednesday’s bomb threat.
No further details on the arrests or what charges might be filed were available, she said.
However, Cardoza did say that a bomb threat is a felony, and that the district will “definitely expel and definitely prosecute” any student found responsible for such an act.
Instructional time lost due to evacuations can also result in the more school days being added to end of the school year for that specific school.
“We’re hoping that parents talk with their kids about how serious these threats are and they realize that this isn’t a joke,” Cardoza said.
Bomb-sniffing dogs had cleared the school at 7:36 p.m., and class resumed on Thursday.
• Contact Tracy Press at 835-3030 or tpnews@tracypress.com
As soon as we got in the stadium it was made very clear by Mrs. Dominichelli on the loudspeaker that we couldand should call home, so maybe your teacher wasn't paying attention. But we could hear it just fine on the Home side and I never saw a single teacher object to us using the phones the whole time because at least mine knew our parents would be concerned and really what could they really do to stop us anyway?
My teacher reasoned it was going to take a while to call all 2000 parents at their numbers to let people know what was happening. Hello? They only have so many phones even if it's some voice message.
Lanyards may not be perfect, but we're supposed to use them for this very reason. While some people from last year may come on campus with them most are in college anyway or could care less to come, so then security can see us at least at a distance and make a reasonable guess we belong there.
Yay, for the Tracy High arrests that has to put families more at ease. I pray Kimball can find comfort soon so we can feel safe again and let are kids go back to school.
I agree, hopefully the Kimball people responsible will be found too. I hope they can trace that call about the bomb today.
This is serious. People should take this serious, not play around and party off campus like this was some day off.
It's "principal" people! Lower case too when you don't attach a proper noun to the title.
Not to mention:
1) A massive amount of time has been lost behind the scenes. Extra curricular activites such as sports are now costing time and money to our schools and others
2) Teachers were supposed to submit grades by tonight for last quarter, but have had to spend countless hours now in meetings making sure they know information and are aware of the safety measures they have to perform to keep their students safe. I bet that's something you care about especially if you are a senior or are in sports.
I for one am sick of it, and I hope whoever is responsible will be punished
As I wrote on a different story, bring charges of domestic terrorism, I mean by the comments of how scared parents were and having thoughts of pulling their kids from school at least for a day or two, I'd say this qualifies as an act of terror. What's an act of terror? Violence or the threat of violence to coerce people in order to attain a goal. This doesn't appear religeous or political but it sure as hell achieved a goal of shutting down the school.
Bottom line, nail their backsides to the wall if convicted. And I sure as hell don't want to hear about how great their parents are and it was just poor judgment, drop the hammer on the terrorists and hand the parents a bill for emergency services, class interruption, basically every penny it cost to deal with this outrageous series of threats.
Let's not forget, when news like this gets out it could weigh on businesses thinking of moving here so it's not a stretch to say these acts of terror may have an economic impact on our city.
There is a lot of complaining and bad mouthing on here about the Admin at Kimball,and I think that is a shame. They have handled this situation as well, if not better, than any other high school currently going through these issues, both in town and throughout NorCal this week.
I feel like it is a "damned if you do and damned if you don't mentality" both from a select few parents and students.
It is a shame that we are having to deal with this right now, but as parents it is also our responsibility to be supportive, talk to our kids, and discuss safety measures. And, are you also thinking about these issues outside of school- workplace, social settings etc. Be prepared. Good job Kimball staff, thank you for looking out for our students. I blame those who are starting the "fires" not those who are trying to prevent and put them out.
People that make bomb threats would never lie about it's location?
Agreed.