Central Bucks Superintendent Sends Message Of Unity After Threats

WARRINGTON, PA — Central Bucks High School South conducted an early dismissal of students and staff on Tuesday after two separate threats were made to the school, according to police and the district. As of Tuesday afternoon, no illicit items had been found at the school and no injuries were reported, according to the Warrington Township Police Department.

Still, as Superintendent Abram M. Lucabaugh shared in a message to district families, the day was a harrowing one.

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"We acknowledge our responsibility to care for the mental wellness of our students and staff, for when students feel safe, encouraged, cared for and valued, they perform at their best," he said. "In the best of times, such responsibility is daunting. In the worst of times, it is exponentially more difficult."

Lucabaugh then spoke to Central Bucks' recent struggles with division in the district — especially hostility at school board meetings.

"We are at a critical intersection as a community and a district," he wrote. "If we are to preserve this proud community of ours, it will require our collective thinking, our wisdom and our shared willingness to restore us. It will require us to quell the vitriol, the judgment and the incivility. It will require us to look within and rediscover that the strength of this community is still, and will forever be found in, its people."

He then emphasized that everyone in the Central Bucks community is valued and deserves respect, "regardless of ethnicity, religion, orientation, identity or political affiliation."

Lucabaugh did not say whether the day's threats were thought to be linked to incidents at school board meetings.

The Day's Events

Police said that by 9:49 a.m. they had received multiple calls about threats at the high school. The district said they received information about the threats early in the morning, and that police arrived at the school within minutes to investigate.

Following police advice, administrators locked the school down with students remaining in classrooms in the building. Police, including a K-9 unit, were dispatched to Central Bucks South.

"Upon receiving information from the School District, it was decided that out of precaution the school would be locked down and a sweep conducted for any dangerous devices," police wrote. "At this time no devices have been found and no injuries have been reported."

According to the school's message, after the police inspection students will be dismissed under police supervision.

The district said students at Mill Creek Elementary School were sheltering in place due to police presence at Central Bucks South. Afternoon kindergarten was canceled, and buses were dispatched from Mill Creek to bring the high school students home. All after school and evening activities scheduled to take place at Central Bucks South in the evening were canceled.

"Sometimes it takes a traumatic event, or the hint of one, to give us pause and remember what really matters in this world," Lucabaugh said. "May we not lose sight of that in the midst of everything thrust upon us."

Police encouraged those with any information to contact Lead Investigator Sgt. Stebner at (215) 343-3311 ext. 205, or submit an anonymous tip on the Warrington Police CrimeWatch Platform.