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Bellefonte Area High School's principal, Mike Fedisson, commended local law enforcement and the community for their cooperation following Wednesday's potential threats to the facility.
In a message to parents, Fedisson gave a brief run-down on what transpired that morning -- when swatting calls across the state of Pennsylvania sent law enforcement and first responders racing to a variety of educational institutions.
Swatting calls are a harassment technique which generates an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretenses.
According to Fedisson, Bellefonte police received a call of a threat against the high school Wednesday morning and immediately responded.
"We had officers from all local agencies, as well as state and federal officials in the area. Police began clearing the building and, once complete, evacuated the school and moved out students to be reunified with families and dismissed for the day," he said.
Students were later accounted for and returned to their families, after police determined the threat was part of state-wide swatting calls.
School returned to normal on Thursday, though Fedisson noted the building would follow the same schedule as Wednesday to ensure the completion of the district's third marking period.
The high school official switched to its final marking period today, one day behind its normal schedule.
Fedisson told parents he would spoke with students on Thursday morning.
"While the events of (Wednesday) were certainly concerning, it has given us an opportunity to reflect on our practices in these situations," he said. "We have received a number of compliments from police about our procedures, but we will continue to review and update our practices."
Fedisson also commended the Bellefonte community for its role in Wednesday's events.
"I want to mention that, while there are topics that come up occasionally that may cause disagreements amongst our school community, this is a great reminder of the commitment of our Bellefonte community to the wellbeing of all of us," he said. "Thank you again for all of your support."
A higher police presence was ensured at the high school on Thursday, to ensure the safety of its staff in students.
The same was said for the Keystone Central School District -- although the district was not among the school's the received threats.
"While KCSD has not had any threatening calls as many other district have, we have been in constant contact with local law enforcement throughout the day and have requested additional police presence in the and around our schools this week," KCSD Superintednent Jacquelyn Martin said.
Martin also shared a message from Jeffrey A. Fuller, deputy secretary of the Department of Education's office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Fuller sent a message state-wide to all school district's following the discovery that threats made were swatting calls.
"The Pennsylvania State Police announced that it is investigating a series of phone calls made to 9-1-1 centers around schools across the Commonwealth, alleging threats of active shooter situations and bomb threats," Fuller wrote.
Fuller noted that all claims, as of Wednesday evening, were false.
"The Pennsylvania Department of Education is working collaboratively with our school safety partners at (PSP) regarding these so-called 'swatting' incidents, which present a disruption of the learning environment in our schools and impacts the overall education atmosphere of our communities," he said.
Fuller encouraged all educators to continue to follow all recommendations made by PSP and local law enforcement and adhere to school safety protocols regarding potential threats.