RACINE -- A Facebook shooting threat closed McKinley Middle School in Racine Thursday, school district officials say.
At about 7:30 a.m. the district sent a note to parents saying school would be delayed for two hours, according to a district spokesperson. Then at around 9:30 a.m., the decision was made to close the school for the entire day out of an "abundance of caution."
"We have worked very closely with the Racine Police department and school staff this morning to identify those involved in posting a threat on social media," the school district said on Facebook. "We have not been able to complete the investigation yet. To err on the side of caution, we are canceling school today."
All after-school activities will also be canceled, the district said on Twitter:
School has been canceled for Mckinley Middle School students today, Thursday, March 1.
All after school activities are also canceled. Thank you very much for your patience and understanding during this situation.
— Racine Unified (@RacineUnified) March 1, 2018
Parents were on edge following the threat, including Frances Hastings, the mother of a seventh grader.
“This is nothing lightly to be played with, it makes me frightening to even send my son to school. Yeah, it’s sad," she said.
Stacy Tapp with the school district said they hope they won't have to add an extra school day at the end of the year.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to build in some extra minutes, we’ll have to be flexible with our school day over at McKinley and potentially add in some additional minutes to extend their day just very slightly for the rest of the year, rather than having to add a day at the end of the year," Tapp said. "I know students would prefer that.”
Police continue to investigate the threat. McKinley plans to reopen Friday.
