Panther Valley School District Superintendent Dennis Kergick Sr. has released a statement on Thursday morning's bomb threat, the second in as many days.

"This morning at approximately 8:30 a.m. I was summoned to the Panther Valley Intermediate School office. I was informed that there was a threat written on the girl's lavatory wall on our sixth grade hall. The Summit Hill police were notified as well as the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency.

The intermediate school students were immediately evacuated to the (junior/senior high school), the staff at (the intermediate school) is to be commended for the orderly and swift evacuation. Carbon County EMA arranged for the Pennsylvania State Police to bring in dogs to conduct a sweep of the (intermediate school) and the time of transport from Hershey to the Panther Valley School District was estimated. As a result of the time issues, intermediate school students were dismissed from junior/senior high school at 10:30 a.m.

In situations such as this, it is the number one priority to evacuate students and staff from a specifically noted area. Students were not permitted to gather belongings because the threat noted that the device was in a book bag.

Cooperation between parents and administration is of the utmost importance. If you don't receive notifications immediately you need to understand that the situation is fluid and protocols need to be followed. First priority is always safety. Information will certainly be disseminated, but when it is feasible to do so. If you don't hear anything immediately, you need to understand that we are operating in a potential crisis mode. Nerves tend to be frayed and adrenalin kicks in for some people. That is understandable.

A thorough investigation will be conducted and the person/persons responsible will be prosecuted. These scenarios set a great deal of wheels in motion and are not considered to be pranks or a laughing matter."

Carbon Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein reported at the commissioners meeting that Panther Valley Middle School students were sent home and state police brought in five bomb sniffing dogs to sweep the area.

He said the dogs are in the process of being trained in Hershey and Thursday's bomb threat was being used to help aid in their training.

"Hopefully it was just another hoax," Nothstein said, adding that hopefully officials start finding the responsible people and prosecuting them. "We need to send a message out to the students that this is a very serious offense. It is very costly to send police dogs and is very costly to the school districts, the police and other entities involved."