Students at two schools in Glenview faced a tougher Monday than usual when a fire, a flood and a bomb threat forced them to evacuate their buildings, per school administrators.
No students were injured from either the fire and water at Glenbrook South High School or the bomb threat at Washington Elementary School, officials said.
At Glenbrook South, a ventilation unit near the Student Activities Center experienced a mechanical failure, which caused a significant amount of water to be released into a hallway, according to information from Carol Smith, executive director of communications for Glenbrook High School District 225.
A fire began at 9:23 a.m. in the school’s woodshop, and officials evacuated students and staff from the building. But due to cold temperatures outside, officials relocated the students and staff to safe places inside the building at the direction of the Glenview Fire Department, Smith said.
Administrators canceled school for the rest of the day to allow workers to begin restoring the areas that had been damaged. They also canceled activities and athletics and notified families, per the school information.
The fire was contained to a room within the woodshop, according to the school.
Smith said the water leakage was due to a faulty coil in a ventilation unit, and the cause of the fire is still being investigated.
At Washington Elementary, the school received a bomb threat via email at 7:42 a.m. Monday and Cook County Sheriff’s Police arrived on the scene quickly, said Janet Spector Bishop, communications director for East Maine School District 63.
The school bell rings at 7:55 a.m., so students were starting to arrive around that time, she said.
Police escorted students and staff across a busy thoroughfare to a prearranged reunification site, and the school notified parents to come and pick up their children from that site.
Administrators cancelled school for the day, Spector Bishop said, and police performed a search of the school and determined the threat was not credible. They gave the all-clear to return to the building, and administrators advised parents the school would be open as usual the following day.
In an abundance of caution, Spector Bishop said, Cook County Police planned a heightened presence around the building for the next few days and are investigating the source of the threat.
“A heartfelt thank you to law enforcement and our Washington staff for reacting quickly and calmly to the situation,” wrote Principal Kate Anderson in a note to families. “Although this threat did turn out to be non-credible, the support we received from the police and the exceptional response of our staff ensured that we were able to move our students safely to an alternate location and coordinate parent pick-up.”
