MANSFIELD, Ohio — John Sherman Elementary School was evacuated this morning after the district received a bomb threat, according to Mansfield City Schools Superintendent Brian Garverick.
Mansfield City Schools Public Relations Officer Larry Gibbs said Sherman Elementary School received a call with a bomb threat just before 10 a.m.
As a precaution all students were immediately evacuated to the old Springmill School, 1200 Nestor Drive, which is located behind Sherman Elementary. According to Gibbs, Sherman Elementary’s principal, Steve Rizzo, called back two classes on field trips as well.
“Thankfully it’s close enough for students and teachers to walk over there,” said Gibbs.
Parents have been asked to pick up their children at the Nestor Drive location. By 11 a.m., parents and guardians lined Nestor Drive with cars, eager to transport their children home.
A grandparent, who wished to remain anonymous, said the bomb threats are getting ridiculous.
“It’s happening everyday … Madison, Plymouth, everywhere. I can’t wait to go and get her,” she said, visibly upset, of her granddaughter who is in first grade at Sherman Elementary.
Gibbs said Sherman Elementary teachers are still teaching classes at the Nestor Drive location.
Parents must provide identification when collecting their children. In the event that a parent is unable to pick up their child, the student will be bused home as normal from the old Springmill School.
According to Mansfield Police Department Chief of Police Ken Coontz, the department has officers walking through the elementary to identify anything unusual.
“They are attempting to have the building searched with dogs,” said Coontz.
Tuesday’s incident at Sherman Elementary was the latest in a series of Richland County school lockdowns, bomb threats and other events that have closed schools or disrupted classes. Madison, Mansfield Senior, St. Peter’s and Lexington have all experienced incidents earlier this month.
Despite the swell of threats, Coontz said calls of this nature are taken seriously.
“Our detective bureau is very aggressively investigating this along with a partner with the FBI. This isn’t something that we’re going to take lightly. We’re going to keep being aggressive … until we get somebody,” said Coontz.
Coontz could not disclose whether or not the investigators saw a connection between the Madison bomb threat on Oct. 14, which still remains under investigation.
