LIVERMORE FALLS, Maine — For the second day in a row, RSU 73 officials had to initiate emergency protocols because of a threat.
After a bomb threat against Spruce Mountain Middle School on Thursday, the middle school and high school went into lockdown on Friday.
In an email message to parents around 10:30 a.m. Friday, RSU 73 Superintendent Scott Albert wrote that the schools were out of lockdown after police found the suspect in Friday's threat.
"We are out of lockdown at both the middle school and high school, and we will continue with our day," Albert wrote.
The school district is allowing parents and guardians who want to pick their children up from school for the day to do so.
"We will have someone at the front of the middle school and someone in front of the High school to offer assistance," Albert wrote. "No one will be let into the buildings."
Jay police and fire also responded and cleared the threat around 10:40 a.m.
RSU 73 serves the towns of Jay, Livermore, and Livermore Falls.
On Thursday, the middle school was evacuated due to a note written on a bathroom stall that referenced a bomb threat. Middle school students were dismissed shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday.
"It was a hoax," Albert said in a news release about Thursday's threat. "We will work with local law enforcement to try to find out who the perpetrator was. This is a crime and will be treated as such. Not only does it cause a disturbance, stress and anxiety to staff, students and families. It also puts others at risk who might be experiencing a real emergency, and law enforcement is tied up dealing with a hoax."
The school was cleared by state police by 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Students at Portland's King Middle School shifted to remote learning last week due to two separate threats found by staff in the school.
South Portland High School students were sent home early last week because of a report of a threat, and school officials in Poland, along with deputies, are investigating what Whittier Middle School is calling a "kill list" found on a student's computer.
In April, officials confirmed threats against schools in Augusta, Madison, Limestone, Fort Fairfield, Madawaska, and Van Buren.
Violence against schools is in the national spotlight after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday, May 24.
