Pioneer Regional School Corporation Superintendent Dr. Charles Grable is commending staff and students for a swift evacuation of nearly 960 students on Monday due to a bomb threat.
Having practiced new bomb threat procedures with staff this past fall, Grable was also thankful for the local churches of Royal Center for stepping up to help by opening their doors for students in a time of uncertainty.
Pioneer Regional Schools were eventually all cleared, and nothing significant was found by the bomb squad and K-9 officers. Units from the Indiana State Police and Cass County Emergency Management also assisted the schools.
According to school officials in Cass County, the FBI was also called to investigate. It was later discovered that Pioneer had been the first of around 40 other schools in Indiana to receive the threat on Monday.
To rather be safe than sorry, Grable said safety for staff and students is the main priority at Pioneer. A post was made on the Cass County Sheriff's Office around 10 a.m. Monday that explained the bomb threat at Pioneer. Grable says despite having to evacuate both of their schools, students were back in class by noon.
For precautions, the Cass County Sheriff's Office made sure extra police officers were present at schools for the remainder of the day Monday.
Grable said he was impressed by how smoothly Monday's evacuation went. He says they are having a meeting to debrief.
This is still an ongoing investigation. Anyone with more information on this case is asked to contact the Cass County Sheriff’s Office at 574-753-7800.
