PRINCIPAL LOCKS DOWN HIGH SCHOOL

Some students send worried text messages during "drill" at Central
High.

When Central High School Principal Everett Isaacs announced a
lockdown without explanation Wednesday morning, some concerned
students began calling and text-messaging their parents to find out
what was going on.

What exactly happened at the school was hard to determine throughout
the day as police, fire and school officials all offered sketchy --
and sometimes contradictory -- accounts of a bomb threat that was
later determined to be unsubstantiated and a drug sweep authorities
say turned up no narcotics.

By day's end, the picture had shaped up like this:

A "very vague audio message" was left overnight on a district phone,
said Dennis Lewis, head of school security. The message was picked up
Wednesday morning and -- in line with district policy -- school
officials reported the potential threat to the fire department.

Assistant Springfield Fire Chief Barry Rowell said the department
sent two fire marshals to the school to determine whether the threat
was credible.

At roughly the same time, the school initiated a prescheduled "drill"
involving a Springfield police officer and a drug-sniffing dog, Lewis
said.

Sometime during or after the sweep, Lewis said, the police officer
called a fire marshal who handles the department's bomb-sniffing dog
and suggested the two conduct a "training exercise" in an area of the
school where there were no students.

Rowell said the officers trained together in the school's
auditorium.

The scene was eventually cleared after fire officials determined the
threat was unsubstantiated and the police officer concluded his search.

"They felt confident ... they could go ahead and open the school back
up," Rowell said.

No drugs or drug paraphernalia were found at the school and the
narcotics officer did not arrest or take anyone into custody, said
Officer Tony Celeste, a Springfield police spokesman.

Students said they were not allowed to leave their classroom after
the school was locked down.

Isaacs said he announced over the intercom that the school was under
lockdown, telling teachers to corral students into their classrooms
and lock the doors. However, he did not announce that it was a drill,
saying later that some students and teachers don't take the order
seriously if they know it is for a drill.

Lewis said the district recommends that at least three drug sweeps
occur at each school every year. At least one of them is unannounced,
he said.

Celeste, the police spokes-man, said the officer who searched Central
on Wednesday conducts about 30 random searches each year at local
high schools and middle schools.

The district doesn't have a policy on what's announced over the
intercom when a sweep is under way, but officials generally want
students out of the hallways and principals sometimes order a
lockdown, Lewis explained.