A lockdown at all Francophone South School District schools in New Brunswick, that was prompted by a social media post that was deemed disturbing, has been lifted.
School district spokesperson Ghislaine Arsenault says the lockdown procedure was activated in the morning because of a message that was posted on social media.
READ: What’s the difference between a school lockdown and a ‘hold and secure’?
RCMP tell Global News they were made aware of the threat, which possibly involved École Mathieu-Martin in Dieppe. A spokesperson says they take these incidents seriously and worked to verify the validity and extent of the threat.
It was later determined the threat was unfounded.
RCMP cruisers were posted at schools, which are in the Moncton and Dieppe area, and an email was sent to parents advising them not to pick up their children.
Nobody was allowed in or out of the building, and students were asked to stay in their classrooms during the lunch hour.
At around 1:30 p.m.., the decision to lift the lockdown was made in consultation with RCMP. Ghislaine says they also consulted with the North American Center for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response, a firm that specializes in threat assessment.
Ghislaine says school activities are returning to normal and the school bus service will carry on as scheduled.
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Meanwhile, Anglophone East School District decided to place their schools in a “hold and secure” mode Friday morning in response to the threat.
“None of our schools have received threats, however in the absence of further clarification on the extent of the concern in the Francophone Schools from police, we took the precautionary step of hold and secure in the Moncton/Dieppe area schools,” said Stephanie Patterson, the director of communications for the school district, in an email.
Hold and secure means there is regular movement in the building, but nobody can come in or leave.
Patterson says that hold and secure was lifted at 1:20 p.m., after consultation with RCMP.
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