UPDATE: 3:50 p.m. Police had finished their work at the scene and students and teachers were being allowed to pick up their vehicles.
Around 1,100 Winfield High School and middle school students were evacuated Thursday due to a phoned-in bomb threat, district officials said.
The threat was received at the high school just before 10 a.m., according to KayLynn Smith, a spokesperson for the district. School district procedure calls for students to be sent to Southwestern College’s Stewart Fieldhouse.
District officials originally planned to resume classes but eventually canceled the remainder of classes for the day.
A search of school buildings, which are attached, is being conducted under the direction of the Winfield Police Department. The schools and parking lots have been secured. ?
A bomb-sniffing dog is en route from Topeka to perform the search and is not expected to arrive until later this afternoon.
Once the dog arrives, the search will take about an hour and a half.
Superintendent Marvin Estes has decided to cancel classes for the remainder of the day at both schools because of the length of time required to secure the buildings.
Classes will continued on the normal schedule for grades K-6. Those schools were on lockdown but not evacuated because there was no specific threat to those facilities.
Parents were allowed in the Fieldhouse to pick up their kids. Parents were asked to identify themselves and check in before departing with their chidren.
Students and staff will not be allowed into the parking lot to retrieve their cars until the parking lot until 4:00 p.m. or until the parking lot is determined to be safe.
This is the second time both schools have been evacuated since the middle school opened last year.
Mulvane and Derby also received threats this morning. Smith said she did not know yet whether the Winfield threat was related to the threats in other towns.
