Mount Baker schools attendance down after threats, but Oct. 28 ‘very quiet day on campus’
Thursday, Oct. 28, was thankfully a “very quiet day on campus,” Mount Baker School District Superintendent Mary Sewright told The Bellingham Herald after school had been dismissed for the day and students had headed home.
Attendance at the junior and senior high was down Thursday, Sewright told The Herald in an email. While attendance at the junior high was at 83% earlier in the week, it dipped to 20% Thursday, she reported, and high school attendance dropped from 75% earlier in the week to 25% Thursday.
For nearly a month the school district and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office have been investigating after a pair of threats referencing Oct. 28 were found inside bathrooms on the high school and junior high campus:
▪ On Sept. 30, a threat stating “School Shooting October 28th” was found scratched into the wall of the men’s bathroom in the field house, Sewright previously told The Herald.
▪ Then on Oct. 18, the district announced that a second threat reading “October 28 a lot will die” was found scratched into a bathroom paper dispenser in the 700 building of the high school campus.
While that investigation is not over, Sewright took the opportunity Wednesday, Oct. 27, to send a letter to students, staff, families and the community, and that letter was shared Thursday on the district’s website.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our entire school community including all of you for your support and care regarding the safety and well-being of students and staff on our secondary campus,” Sewright wrote in a letter. “It has been wonderful to have the presence of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office on campus full-time this week.”
Though it did not include any new threats, Sewright reported in her letter that the graffiti may be related to the threats was found in two bathrooms on Wednesday.
“The District will cooperate with local law enforcement and follow up with school discipline and support as this has been a significant disruption and threat to the academic and overall well-being of our students, staff, and families,” Sewright told The Herald Thursday. “We appreciate all of the community support.
“Mount Baker can always be counted on for the support and care of our students.”
In her letter to the community, Sewright again encouraged anyone with information about the threats to contact the school at 360-383-2015 or leave information on the tip line at 360-383-2093. The sheriff’s office also can be contacted with information at 360-778-6600.
In addition to working with the sheriff’s office and having the extra law enforcement presence at the school, Sewright thanked Whatcom County Fire District 1, Whatcom Medic One and PeaceHealth for helping with planning and extra support.
“We are so grateful for these community partnerships!” Sewright wrote in the letter.
