COLUMBUS – Worthington Kilbourne High School was closed for a second day in a row on Friday due to what officials termed “a threat specific” to the school.
Worthington Kilbourne High School will be closed today Friday, September 22, due to a threat specific to Worthington Kilbourne High School. The district will communicate more details later today. pic.twitter.com/9rLZHbjYGd
— Worthington Schools (@wcsdistrict) September 22, 2023
The school closed Thursday after a threat that had been emailed overnight was discovered at approximately 7:40 a.m., which included both a bomb threat and a threat to shoot up the school, district superintendent Trent Bowers wrote on the district’s website.
“Our top priority is always the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and community members. We could not, in good conscience, allow the school to remain open without working with local law enforcement who included the Columbus Police counter-terrorism task force and Ohio’s branch of homeland security to verify the credibility of the threat we received,” Bowers wrote.
Thursday’s after-school activities were allowed to continue following the investigation but a message on the district’s X feed Friday morning said classes had been cancelled and promised an extra police presence at the school Friday morning.
In an updated post Friday. Bowers wrote that police were unable to verify whether the Thursday morning threat was a specific threat or a hoax.
It was followed Thursday night by a threat that included a reference to shooting Black students.
School officials again reported the threat to the Columbus police and Bowers says he asked the Worthington police for their assistance and decided to close the school for a second day.
No decision had been made Friday afternoon whether to hold classes on Monday.