On Thursday March 1, Einstein High School in North Kensington was placed on lockdown after it received bomb threats via an email, which claimed an explosive device was planted outside the school. Eventually, the police department deemed it to be a false alarm, and students were dismissed to go home shortly after 3 pm. This is another in a string of threats to Montgomery County schools, as police officers claim to have received a number of threats in the last two weeks.
The threatening email was reportedly sent to the principal of Einstein, James Fernandez. In response, he notified the police and the administrative office at Newport Mill middle school, which was put in a shelter in place lockdown. Police arrived promptly, and their K9 team, specialized in explosive detection, was was not able to locate any threat.
MCPS remains diligent in implementing preventative measures to ensure the safety of all students. Research centers are being provided for mental health issues, each high school will contain at least 100 cameras, and over 230 police officers have been stationed at local schools. They have also prioritized maintaining strong communication with parents, as they were all notified of the situation through social media before the lockdown was even in place.
However, just one week prior to the incident at Einstein, Walter Johnson and Winston Churchill high schools were both evacuated due to bomb threats. Police investigated both schools and concluded that both were safe. Students at Clarksburg and Northwest were arrested for bringing a loaded gun to school and making bomb threats, respectively. While these incidents did not result in any physical harm, it is clear that the school board and the local police department will need to continue to work very closely with one another to ensure school safety at MCPS.
Article by MoCo Student staff writer Sreelekha Chillanki of Richard Montgomery High School