UPDATE: Capital School District Releases Details on Bomb Threat

UPDATE: Capital School District Superintendent Toriano Giddens released a detailed statement on Wednesday evening following multiple bomb threats made earlier in the day.

Giddens first clarified that no bombs or dangerous materials were found in any Capital School District buildings. All students and staff remained safe throughout the response, and law enforcement has since given the all-clear.

New details were also provided about the nature of the threats. At approximately 1:00 a.m., a bomb threat was left via voicemail at both Kent County Secondary ILC (KSSILC) and Dover High School. Some families have asked questions asking why the voicemails weren’t heard sooner. Giddens says voicemails are not monitored overnight when buildings are closed, but they are checked shortly upon staff arrival. When they were listened to this morning, it resulted in the district’s emergency response plan being implemented and law enforcement being contacted. The Dover Police Department and Delaware State Police responded quickly and conducted thorough sweeps of the impacted buildings.

Giddens also clarified the changes in bus routes, and the two-hour delay that was issued for grades one through eight.

“Some Capital School District buses run multiple routes beginning with KCSILC and Dover High School; those buses were unavailable for later runs while the impacted buildings were being secured,” the statement read. “As transportation had already begun for several schools, some students were picked up as scheduled, while others were not, due to their assigned bus being held. Capital School District transports approximately six thousand students each day, and a delay at the start of our route can create a significant ripple effect. This is why we issued a two-hour delay for students in grades 1-8, to adjust the schedule and maintain as much consistency as possible.”

Giddens says that students who had already arrived by bus were kept safely on their buses. Walkers and car riders were relocated to a secure indoor location away from the main building. Shortly after, all students on buses, walkers, and car riders were temporarily transported to designated reunification sites, where Giddens says they remained supervised and safe. Once law enforcement gave the all-clear, students were safely returned to their school campuses.

“Later in the day, we became aware that other school districts in Delaware received similar threats,” Giddens said. “While this may be part of a broader pattern, we want to be very clear: we treat every threat as real until proven otherwise. The safety of our students and staff is our top priority… While this ultimately proved to have been a false alarm, we made no hesitation in treating the threat as credible until proven otherwise.”

Giddens concluded by thanking responding law enforcement, school staff, and families for their cooperation and support throughout the incident.

To read Superintendent Gidden’s full update, click here.

DOVER, Del. – The Capital School District delayed the opening of its schools on Wednesday morning following multiple bomb threats.

In a message posted to social media at 8:03 a.m., the district announced the delay for grades one through eight due to, “a transportation disruption caused by multiple bomb threats affecting school operations.” However, officials said there was no known direct threat to district buildings, and staff members reported to the school at the normal time.

“The schedule adjustment was made out of an abundance of caution and due to significant delays in bus transportation as these alerts were being investigated,” the message read. “Please know that law enforcement and appropriate emergency response agencies have been contacted and are actively investigating. We are working closely with all authorities to ensure the safety and security of our students and staff.”

In an update posted at 10:26 a.m., the district stated that law enforcement had cleared Dover High School and Kent County Secondary ILC of any threats following an investigation. Normal school operations have since resumed.

The district says that the morning’s events significantly impacted school transportation routes, and some buses may be delayed. Parents are are welcome to drop off their children at any time at their child’s school. If children are unable to attend school today, their absence will be excused.

A full update is expected to be announced later today.

This article was originally posted on Feb. 4 at 11:21 a.m.