Last school year, the East Detroit Public Schools alone had 12 threats. Pinckney Community Schools had six. The threats are costly. Schools lose classroom time and must pay transportation costs for moving students to other buildings. Police agencies must deploy investigators, bomb-sniffing dogs and expensive equipment.
Fire departments send people to the scene.
Now, schools and governments are fighting back with information rewards and tougher penalties. A new state law will force perpetrators to reimburse the costs of their misdeeds. It's kind of scary because you don't know what is going on. In December 1999, more than 300 vendors and their customers gathered at Henry Ford II High School in Sterling Heights for a Christmas craft show sponsored by the athletic booster club. School and law enforcement officials say the wave started shortly after the Columbine High School shootings two years ago today.