St. Patrick High School in Thunder Bay cleared to reopen after latest school threat

St. Patrick High School in Thunder Bay, Ont., has been cleared to reopen, afterdismissing students early on Monday the latest in a string of closures in recent weeks dueto threats received by the school.

The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board issued a statement saying the school received a threat on Monday morning.

In an initial release sent out late Monday morning, the board said the school was placed under a hold and secure.

A second release issued shortly after said the school would be closing early as a precaution, and that buses would be picking students up and transporting them home. Parents or guardians could also pick up students from the school.

Late Monday afternoon, the board said Thunder Bay police had conducted an investigation, and the school was determined to be safe and ready to be reopened. It said all classes and school activities will resume on Tuesday.

However, community use of the school remainedcancelled Monday evening.

"The safety of our students and staff [is] our main concern," the board said in its initial release about the precautions, adding that itasks anyone with information about the occurrence to contact police or Crimestoppers.

The threat is the latest in a series that have disrupted classes at the school in recent weeks. Two previous threats led to temporary closures of the school, one in early December and the other in late November. Both times, the school was determined to be safe shortly after.

A number of threats have also impacted other Catholic schools in Thunder Bay and across northern Ontario over the past month.