Westmont police continue to investigate a threatening voicemail message at Westview Hills Middle School in Willowbrook Thursday, Jan. 29 that closed the school down for one day.
School principal Jed Ramsey said Monday, Feb. 2, that the school is getting “back to normal” after the incident.
“We had parent-teacher conferences last Friday, and kids have been back in classes now, and we are back in our normal routine,” he said.
Maercker School District 60 officials said the middle school, 630 65th St., was evacuated just after 7:30 a.m. Thursday after staff discovered a threatening message on the school’s voicemail. Students and staff immediately were evacuated to nearby buildings.
Police indicated last week that it was a bomb threat, but declined to comment on the specifics of the threat.
Westmont Police Chief Jim Ramey said no one has been charged in the incident as of press time. No explosive device was found during a thorough sweep of the property, he said.
Westview Hills Middle School canceled classes for the rest of the day. Parents were permitted to pick up their children at Holmes School, 5800 S. Holmes Ave., Clarendon Hills.
District 60 Superintendent Catherine Berning said the message was left at about 11:30 p.m. the previous evening. The threat was general and did not target a specific person.
Berning said the threat was discovered before the start of the school day, and about 20 to 30 students and some staff members were in the building at the time. All immediately were moved to the nearby Westmont Convalescent Center, where parents of those students were called to take them home. Students taking the bus to school were rerouted to Holmes School, according to the district.
“We had some buses that were on the way to school, and they were rerouted to other facilities when the call to evacuate the school was made,” Berning said.
Ramsey said he was pleased at how the evacuation went, and how well the students handled the incident.
“The students behaved in a very good manner, and the entire evacuation process went very well,” Ramsey said.
