Swampscott High School cleared after bomb threat

SWAMPSCOTT – Swampscott High School will be open as usual today after a bomb threat sent students and faculty home early Thursday morning.”Teams of bomb-sniffing dogs were called to Swampscott High School and swept through the building,” Principal Edward Rozmiarek wrote in a statement posted on the school website. “No evidence of anything out of the ordinary was found.”Swampscott Police notified school officials at approximately 9:30 a.m. Thursday that a bomb threat had been reported at the school, according to the statement. Students and staff evacuated the building and school administrators, police and fire decided to dismiss school for the day at about 10:30 a.m., according to the statement.Some students seemed nonplussed about the incident.”We thought it was a regular evacuation,” Mickey Zacharias, 18, said as she and some friends waited for a ride home.The rumor broke out it was a bomb threat as they were evacuating, causing some people to run, Zacharias said. But students with cars were able to drive home, the youths said. And the few students and staff who remained near the scene at around 11 a.m. (police blocked off the driveway to the school and connected senior center) stood casually chatting.In fact, students joked they were less worried about dogs finding bombs than canines finding other things in backpacks.The principal said students will be allowed into the building at 8 a.m. Friday and be allowed to collect their belongings, which were left in the building when it was evacuated.”Through the cooperation of the school department, police department, fire department and State Police, we believe that no students were ever in danger today, and we are confident that the school is safe,” the statement concluded.