Threatening Note That Closed Taunton Schools Mentioned Tuesday's Date
TAUNTON (CBS) -- Taunton High School and Parker Middle School were closed to students and faculty Tuesday.
A faculty member found a threatening note at the high school, which is attached to the middle school, on Monday afternoon that sparked the closures.
There will also be no after-school activities.
A press conference was held by Taunton Police midmorning on Tuesday. While Police Lt. Eric Nichols said they could not share more details about the nature of the note, he did say it specifically mentioned May 22.
Police are investigating whether the threat is credible. They also said there is no reason to believe any of the other schools faced similar threats.
"In our opinion, if we open up school tomorrow, they [are] safe. We would never think that the kids weren't safe if we were going to open the school. At any given time, we have to evaluate threats, we take all threats seriously, especially the Taunton School Department, the Taunton Police Department and we have to have time to evaluate each threat individually and that's what happened here today," said Nichols.
Freshman Riley Patten is still worried about going back to school, though. She said, "What if these kids just think it's funny or if it's actually serious."
For high school students, the school day will be made up by making two scheduled half days during finals into full days. School administrators have not yet detailed how the middle school will make the day up.
All other Taunton schools opened for a regularly scheduled school day.
Parent Christine Miceli has a son who goes to Taunton High School, a daughter who goes to a different middle school in town and another child in elementary school. She didn't send any of her kids to school because she is "very scared" for their safety.
"[Police] said absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing was said -- same thing in the email, nothing was said. I got a phone call that said they are closing the high school due to unforeseen circumstances. Okay, so what does that mean?" Miceli asked. "We just had a school shooting [in Texas] on Friday. This is happening like crazy. This is my son's first year in the high school and how do you explain to him, 'you're not going to school tomorrow' and how do I know if he's going to feel safe to come back to school?"
All schools will be open Wednesday.
Miceli said she was not sure if she would send her son to the high school. "I need more answers."
She added that she wants the person who wrote the note to be taken into custody. Police said charges are possible.
"I need to know my son is 100% safe at school. That I don't need to worry when he walks out the door to when he gets home. That's not fair to him, that's not fair to me, that's not fair to everybody," said Miceli.
Anyone with information is asked to call Taunton Police at 508-824-7522.
