Comment on Bomb threats in Broward schools won’t trigger automatic evacuations, new directive says

Broward schools should no longer automatically evacuate for bomb threats, under a new directive that instructs principals and law enforcement to assess how credible the risk is. The goal is to reduce campus disruptions caused by a recent spike in bomb threats, according to a May 10 memo to principals from Jaime Alberti, chief of safety and security for the school district. The new procedures are supported by a national school safety expert but criticized by a district principals’ group, who said principals may continue evacuations because they not trained to determine the credibility of threats. The memo came a day after an evacuation at Fort Lauderdale High interrupted students who were taking a required test for a college-level course offered by Cambridge University. The district has faced complaints about how past evacuations have been handled, with students, staff and volunteers often standing outside in the heat for long periods of time with no water or access to restrooms, said Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union. District data shows that as of April 30, the district had 175 incidents of a major disruption on campus — the category used to record bomb threats in school safety reports.