LOVELAND, Colo — Loveland High School students are still on edge one week after an investigation into a school shooting threat.
More than a dozen teachers left campus while students were left confused inside the school. Parents also say they were not told what was going on.
The threat was eventually found to be not credible. That information was sent out to families by the Thompson School District only after the investigation was over and the school day had already started. The disruption caused the district to cancel classes for the rest of the day.
"It was real to us, the students. The panic was real," said Alyson Pike, a senior at LHS.
She's been part of student protests and planned walkouts after families say they were left in the dark. The school district has said it will always notify families of credible threats.
"The kind of ideological approach of, well, they don't need to know if it wasn't real. We hadn't heard anything. Nothing official otherwise that it wasn't [real.] So a threat is a threat until it's deemed otherwise," said Pike.
Denver7 has followed up with the Thompson School District, but so far, there is no update as to why any of it played out the way it did.
The school board had a study session meeting Tuesday night.
"The only question I have is the big elephant in the room. Is the report on the Loveland High School incident, do you know when that will be forthcoming so everyone can understand what did or didn't happen?" Board of Education Member Nancy Rumfelt asked during the meeting.
She was eventually told there is no definitive answer as officials do not want to rush the investigation.
Rumfelt spoke to Denver7, noting she is not speaking on behalf of the entire school board, but instead, sharing her opinion on the matter.
"We don't need to get into the finger pointing and the names of the teachers, but we do need to understand what happened so the administration can support them better," Rumfelt told Denver7.
The district has decided to host a listening forum to give LHS parents, students and staff a chance to share their concerns. It's planned for April 13 at LHS beginning at 6 p.m.
In the meantime, there are still many unknowns, including why LHS Principal Michael James, affectionately called "MJ" by students, was placed on leave not long after the incident.
"We want to know why MJ was put on administrative leave, and we want him back," said Pike.
"Principal James was very well liked and admired. Again, I don't really know how it's going to play out or what's going to happen. We just need the truth," said Rumfelt.
