'Bomb' Threat Found At Concord Middle School Deemed Non-Credible

CONCORD, NH — Concord's school superintendent has confirmed that a written threat was found at Rundlett Middle School this week but it was not deemed credible by investigators and administrators. Terri Forsten, the superintendent of SAU 8, said she was aware that administrators at the school and the Concord Police Department were working together to review a message that was found written on a bathroom wall. A few parents alerted Patch to the potential "bomb threat" on Thursday night and Friday morning.

Lt. Sean Ford, the commander of the criminal investigations division for the Concord Police Department, did not return an email seeking comment about the threat. Forsten, however, said the message was assessed and believed to be old, with police and administrators determining the threat to be non-credible.

There were no reports of issues at the school Friday.

This is the first reported threat at the middle school in at least two and half years after two students at the school, who were previously suspended, were reportedly threatening students.

Threats like this one, whether deemed credible or not, are becoming a norm though in capital region schools.

Pembroke Academy has had a number of such threats during the past few years. Concord High School has also had bomb threats, bullets found at the school, and a gun threat incident that turned out to be a hoax. The girl involved in the hoax case in 2013, was later charged with false report.

A month before that incident, both a threat and bullets were found at the school but then-Principal Gene Connolly, who passed away last year, chose not to offer many details about the incident. He later regretted not telling parents more about what was going on. That same week, bomb threats were reported in schools all across the state of New Hampshire.

A couple of years later, another bomb threat, noted as being vague, was reported at Concord High School. Four months after that, another bomb threat was found at the school.

In the Spring 2016, bomb threats were reported at a number of schools in New Hampshire, including Bow High School.

In the wake of the Parkland shooting, schools in Concord and Pittsfield both had threats against them on social media although both were not deemed credible.

Concord police have also performed extensive training to protect the city from terrorist attacks and its schools from threats.

Unlike Concord High School, Rundlett Middle School does not have a school resource officer. Concord police had proposed to staff one at the middle school in this year's school budget but the proposal was nixed by a Board of Education subcommittee. The lack of an SRO at RMS requires police to be taken off of their regular patrol activities whenever there is an incident or issue at the school.

Both the high school and middle school in the Merrimack Valley School District, based in Penacook and serving surrounding communities, have school resource officers.

Some schools, including Exeter, are reviewing proposals to have a school resource officer available for elementary schools.

According to Niche.com, both the Concord and Merrimack Valley school districts failed to make the most recent Top 50 safest school district list in the state of New Hampshire. MV received a B- and Concord received a C in the health and safety categories.

Last year, the state released a School Safety Preparedness Task Force Report and noted that while New Hampshire had some of the safest schools in the country, there is always room for improvement. One of the improvements added was new and free social-emotional learning curriculum, the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, created in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings by Jesse's mom, Scarlett Lewis.

Concord High School hasn't had an incident where there was a shooting since 1985, when Louis Cartier Jr., a student who had dropped out two weeks before, entered CHS with a shotgun, shot at police during a standoff, and was killed by officers. While there have always been fights, bullying, and violence at the school, not unlike many other American schools, this was the first – and only time – the school has had an incident with a firearm.

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