CHARLESTON BACK TO SCHOOL; EAST PRAIRIE GOES BACK TODAY

CHARLESTON -- After a series of threats caused two neighboring school districts to shut down last week, Charleston and East Prairie educators are ready to get back to business.

"We're back to normal," said Charles School Superintendent Terry Rowe. "I think the scare is over."

Classes reconvene today at East Prairie after a five-day vacation to celebrate Easter and give the community time to recover from two threats towards schools received over the Internet last week. A student has been arrested and charged in the incidents.

Charleston students returned to classrooms after an extended Easter break Tuesday. Classes were canceled Thursday afternoon after a high school student made a threatening statement towards the district. The student was arrested and is in the custody of juvenile authorities.

It was the second threat the district received last week. The Charleston Middle School was evacuated and searched after a counselor received an anonymous bomb threat. The Charleston Department of Public Safety is investigating the incident.

Additional security was provided during the break by school staff members and local law enforcement officers. Special programming, including a community event Friday night and practices for the school play, were moved to prevent undo access to the high school auditorium.

"We knew that the buildings were secure on the inside on Thursday, and we wanted to make sure they remained that way over the holidays," Rowe said. "We had our people that had spotlights and went around and checked and made sure there were no problems with graffiti or suspicious persons."

Rowe said the additional security paid off, and students and staff members appeared to be in good spirits this week. Metal detectors were used at the middle and high schools Tuesday morning, but other than "normal precautionary measures," the first day back progressed without incident.

Attendance was back to normal and Rowe said, "everything is running quite smooth."

Charleston's kindergarten and elementary school children enjoyed their school playgrounds for the first time in a week. Although remaining in classrooms through recess and other times was not the best way to spend a week, the situation was similar to a rainy week that keeps them off the playgrounds, Rowe said.

Younger students handled the situation very well. Older students were less agreeable, largely because they didn't like being threatened, Rowe said.

" I think most of the students were more angry than scared; angry that someone had interrupted their normal high school and middle school routines," he said. "We take all threats seriously because we want all our kids to feel safe when they come to school."