On Friday, Sept. 13, the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) closed all schools after being notified of a bomb threat. At most sites, teachers were set to start at 8 a.m. for collaboration time, with students beginning class at 9 a.m. However, just around 8 a.m., an announcement rang over the loudspeaker and through the district’s emergency channels, instructing all students, faculty and visitors to evacuate campus immediately.

Administrators and police quickly blocked all entrance points, turning away anyone trying to enter the campus, while teachers were instructed to go home. Principal Barnaby Payne, as well as the superintendent and district staff, had to take action immediately.

“Our first step was to evacuate the campus immediately, secure the entrances to campus, communicate with Central Marin police, and then as soon as possible get a written message out via ParentSquare,” Payne said. 

At 8:17 a.m., TUHSD sent a message to students and parents, notifying them that all public high schools within the district would be closed on Friday, Sept. 13. In such a serious and stressful situation, Redwood science teacher Mutlu Kartin became worried about her students and the members of the community.

“When I heard it was a bomb threat, I thought of all the students, coworkers and everyone in our community. I prayed that this was just a hoax. It’s really sad and I hope everyone is safe and nothing comes of it,” Kartin said. 

Fellow science teacher Marissa Peck, and Dean of Students Tyrone Robinson both have children who go to Neil Cummins, located just a mile from Redwood. They were both worried for their children’s safety.

“I was dropping off my son and ran into [Robinson]. I was scared because we had such little information, and my son’s school is so close to Redwood. [We] weren’t sure if it was safe to send them to school,” Peck said. 

Senior Jack Anderson arrived at Redwood early this morning to take a math test but was turned around immediately.

“I pulled into the front lot and drove past the security guard but he [screamed] at me with Mr. Diaz. They came up to my car and told me I had to leave [because] something serious was happening,” Anderson said. 

Another senior, Erick Huang, also arrived early to attend an informational session at the College and Career Center.  

“When [I] got into the parking lot, a lady waved at [me] from across the parking lot and made [me] come over. She told [me] there had been a bomb threat and [I] needed to leave immediately,” Huang said. 

Robinson Jr. worked at Tam High School when they received a previous bomb threat in November of 2022. He hoped for a similar positive outcome this time with no harm to anyone.

“I was at Tam two years ago when they had the bomb threat, and we were fine that day, so I was just praying and hoping it would be the same. I just want everyone to be ok. I think life is so precious, and I’ve got to live a beautiful life, so I want all these kids to get the same experience,” Robinson said. 

Archie Williams junior Hadley Johnson was quickly evacuated from campus after already being at school for morning sports practice.

“I was confused at first, [because the people that warned me] didn’t give much information. As soon as I got in my car, [admin] told me I had to leave, but I was lucky enough that I could,” Johnson said.

Sophomore Sabine Barringer of Tam High School was also quickly evacuated from school since she was in the middle of her zero-period class.

“I was in the pool for zero period PE when the threat was made. We had to get out of the pool midway through the class. On top of the confusion of what was going on, [Tam High School] homecoming rally was canceled,” Barringer said.

The bomb threat comes on top of an already emotionally stressful week in the district; yesterday, graffiti containing Nazi symbols and racial slurs was found at Tamalpais (Tam) High School, and the school addressed it through an email, condemning the anti-Black and Anti-Jewish hate speech. Tam had previously scheduled a homecoming pep rally, but the school decided to switch the assembly to a denouncement of the hateful behavior. Now, because of the threat, students will be unable to process the hateful speech until they can safely return to campus. In 2022, Tam received a bomb threat when an assembly was scheduled to address similar disorderly conduct. 

TUHSD plans to take the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the school campuses. 

“Each of our campuses will be inspected by law enforcement. Once the police check has been completed, we will then determine next steps. In a best-case scenario, we could be open by the afternoon for after-school activities. Worst case scenario, the threat is determined to be credible, and school would have to stay closed longer until the investigation is complete,” Payne said.

National Public Radio announced earlier today that violent threats were popping up around the country. Yesterday, Sept. 12, a 14-year-old boy was arrested after making violent threats against two Petaluma high schools. Sacramento-area schools also received social media threats yesterday and were monitored heavily by police. This has been a nationwide trend, as threats have been made in Missouri, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. 

The consequences for a false bomb threat are up to 10 years in prison, $250,000, or both, according to the Department of Justice. The penalty is also applicable to minors.