Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday that ‘at least 33’ bomb threats in Springfield and announced that Ohio State Highway Patrol officers would be sent to 18 school buildings for the foreseeable future. During a news conference Tuesday, he encouraged parents that it was OK to send their children back to school.
“We will continue this protocol as long as necessary,” DeWine said. “You can rest assured that there will be officers there. They will be very visible. Those officers will go through the building before anyone goes in to make sure there is no problem. None of the threats were unfounded. We don’t believe there is a real threat there, but we certainly won’t take any chances.”
Springfield has recently found itself in the national spotlight after former President Donald Trump repeated a false claim that Haitian immigrants who moved to the Clark County town over the years eating cats and dogs during. State public safety officials and Gov. DeWine have debunked that claim.
Asked how much money has been spent to counter fraud threats, DeWine said he didn’t think there was a quick way to calculate that amount.
“We have federal partners involved, we have state, we have local governments, we have three different levels of government that are very, very involved,” DeWine said. “I don’t know if I can even guess.”
DeWine and his wife, Fran, visited Simon Kenton Elementary School on Tuesday.
“Teachers are telling us the kids are doing well, you can just see it in the classroom,” DeWine said, noting that the classroom looked like a typical classroom. “Teachers also told us the kids had a tough day (Monday), so that’s not what we want. Our goal is to get back to normal and do it as quickly as possible.”
On Tuesday afternoon, DeWine said the school received the threat but quickly added that “an analyst quickly determined it was unsubstantiated.” unfounded bomb threat The report was received at the Ohio Statehouse on Monday morning, and DeWine confirmed it was related to the events in Springfield.
Matthew Geha, superintendent of Springfield Local Schools, said Tuesday was the first near-normal day since last Thursday.
“Our attendance dropped (on Tuesday),” he said. “There is still a high level of fear because of these baseless threats and deceptions that have been marring our existence for a week now. I encourage our parents to send their students back to school.”
Geha said 200 students were missing from an elementary school in the district that serves 500 students on Tuesday.
“We still had more than 50% of children there, so I consider it a victory for today and I hope that tomorrow that percentage will increase to 75%,” he said.
DeWine said he has not heard from Trump or his vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, even though Vance has backed his previous false claims about Springfield. CNN on the weekend.
Despite Trump’s Rumored Springfield VisitDeWine said it has not received any information from the Trump campaign about a potential visit to Springfield. Typically, a visit from the presidential campaign is welcomed, but DeWine cautioned against one at this time.
“They certainly have a right to be here,” DeWine said. “If any of the candidates come, they will be welcomed by the people of Springfield. But I have to be honest, resources are really tight here, and that’s just a fact of life. We’re really focused on getting kids in school. … I would be fine with them if they decided not to cut it off now.”
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