FARMINGTON – Mt. Blue Middle School Principal Gary Oswald met with a student and his parents Thursday to discuss an off-the-cuff comment he made after school.

Oswald said the boy said “nobody leaves alive” after school Wednesday and the comment was overheard by an adult and a child. Rumors began to fly that the boy made a threat, but that wasn’t the case, Oswald said.

“It got blown out of proportion,” Oswald said.

There was no direct threat to or against anyone, he said.

Oswald contacted SAD 9’s resource officer, Bridgette Dellarma Gilbert, a Farmington police officer, and the superintendent’s office about the comment as is standard procedure, he said.

Oswald also sent home a letter Thursday to Head Start parents about the incident. Head Start is using an area of the Mt. Blue Middle School this year to hold the program and a Head Start staff member and one of the program’s children overheard the comment, Oswald said.

The principal said he assured them that comments such as this are taken seriously, but they investigate the matter without going into panic mode.

The letter outlined how situations like this are handled to make sure the school remains a safe environment for all.

“We all know how rumors can fly in small towns, and I want to make it very clear that we do follow up on concerns brought to our attention,” Oswald wrote in the letter. “You can never predict the actions of people or predict the future, but we do what is within our power to make Mt. Blue Middle School a safe, fun and academically sound school for all who enter through our doors.”