FARMINGTON — A second bomb threat received at Mt. Blue High School in less than a month is still under investigation, Superintendent Michael Cormier said Monday.

A threat was made Thursday night, but Cormier would not say how the notice was received. Participants in evening classes and cheerleading practice were evacuated and the building was searched, he said.

This follows a threat received Sept. 16 when students were evacuated about 20 minutes before the end of school. They waited in designated areas such as athletic fields at the school until dismissal time at 2 p.m. The students participated in an evacuation drill and relocation of students off site two days after that incident.

Students began classes Friday morning at Mt. Blue but then were transported to other schools while a second search was conducted. School activities were planned for Friday evening and due to the nature of the threat, school officials wanted to be sure nothing had been brought in to the school Friday morning, he said.

“We wanted to be sure all students and employees were safe,” he said. “Nothing was found during either search.”

About 10 years ago, there were a series of bomb threats. At that time, students were released from school. After talking with students and parents, evacuation and relocation have become the standard response, he said.

Students thought the threats would continue if they were sent home while parents were upset when their teenagers left the school campus and didn’t necessarily go home, he said.

The new procedure of relocating students has the added benefit of less expense for the district. Transporting to another school is less expensive than taking them home. That would create another systemwide bus run for that day, he said.

“Hopefully, we’ll catch the culprit(s). We’re beginning to see a pattern,” he said, but refrained from further comments due to the ongoing investigation.

abryant@sunjournal.com