2 Montgomery Co. schools respond to school threats, safety concerns

Two Montgomery County, Maryland, high schools received threats Monday morning that caused some students and staff to shelter in place.

Montgomery County Public Schools confirmed to WTOP while there were no lockdowns in either school, threats caused a shelter-in-place at Northwest High School and police presence at Montgomery Blair High School.



A letter to families from Scott Smith, the principal at Northwest High School, said its administrative team members received an email that “was threatening in nature.”

“In order to investigate the nature of the threat and be proactive in our response, we extended the class period and moved into a shelter-in-place situation which allowed teaching and learning to continue,” Smith said.

On this same day, Montgomery Blair High School Principal Renay Johnson informed families that an anonymous tip was left regarding a safety concern.

“Out of an abundance of caution,” Johnson said in a letter to families, “we contacted the Montgomery County Police investigative unit and they are on campus.”

Northwest students were sheltered from 8:45 a.m. until around 10:40 a.m., when the school shifted to third period. The letter from Montgomery Blair confirmed that their students were only limited from exiting the building during lunch.

Ivy Lyons

Ivy Lyons is a digital journalist for WTOP.com. Since 2018, they have worked on Capitol Hill, at NBC News in Washington, and with WJLA in Washington.

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