WINFIELD, W.Va. - Administrators with Winfield Middle School should have had a plan in place to keep students out of the cold during a bomb threat Monday afternoon, a parent complained to the Putnam County Board of Education Monday evening.

"They should have had a better plan than they had today," Mary Ferguson.

Students and faculty were evacuated from Winfield Middle School around 12:15 p.m. after a bomb threat was found written in a school bathroom.

Police and the principal cleared the building for students and teachers to go back in around 12:55 p.m., an officer with the Winfield Police Department said.

Students did not have time to grab their coats and stood outside for more than half an hour while police searched the building, Ferguson said. Many had on only short sleeve shirts in 30-degree weather, she said.

"The school did the best they could," Ferguson said. "They provided towels and blankets and some of the teachers gave up their jackets."

County administrators knew there was a chance another threat would be made and "they should have come up with some sort of backup plan to keep the kids out of the weather," said Ferguson, who has a daughter in the eighth-grade at the school.

Students should have been put in buses or taken to another location, Ferguson said.

Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said the board would review its options to address the problem. He said police and school officials never know how long it will take to clear a building and by the time buses are mobilized or students are moved to another location the building could be reopened.

"It's frustrating for all," Hatfield said.

Walking or driving students to another location also exposes them to other dangers in addition to students wandering off or going home, board member Sam Sentelle said.

WINFIELD, W.Va. - Administrators with Winfield Middle School should have had a plan in place to keep students out of the cold during a bomb threat Monday afternoon, a parent complained to the Putnam County Board of Education Monday evening.

"They should have had a better plan than they had today," Mary Ferguson.

Students and faculty were evacuated from Winfield Middle School around 12:15 p.m. after a bomb threat was found written in a school bathroom.

Police and the principal cleared the building for students and teachers to go back in around 12:55 p.m., an officer with the Winfield Police Department said.

Students did not have time to grab their coats and stood outside for more than half an hour while police searched the building, Ferguson said. Many had on only short sleeve shirts in 30-degree weather, she said.

"The school did the best they could," Ferguson said. "They provided towels and blankets and some of the teachers gave up their jackets."

County administrators knew there was a chance another threat would be made and "they should have come up with some sort of backup plan to keep the kids out of the weather," said Ferguson, who has a daughter in the eighth-grade at the school.

Students should have been put in buses or taken to another location, Ferguson said.

Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said the board would review its options to address the problem. He said police and school officials never know how long it will take to clear a building and by the time buses are mobilized or students are moved to another location the building could be reopened.

"It's frustrating for all," Hatfield said.

Walking or driving students to another location also exposes them to other dangers in addition to students wandering off or going home, board member Sam Sentelle said.

Monday's bomb threat is the fifth the school has received this year, Ferguson said.

Earlier this month, the board expelled three Winfield Middle School students responsible for bomb threats made on Sept. 30 and Oct. 6.

The students were expelled for up to a year, and also may face criminal charges.

Last year, the board expelled three girls from the middle school for making bomb threats.

A bomb threat is defined as a "threat of terrorist acts," which is a felony offense under state law and is also a federal offense.

Under state law, a person found guilty can be fined from $5,000 to $25,000 and sentenced to one to three years in jail.

Hatfield said charges have been brought against the girls.

Also Monday, the board announced all Putnam County schools are wired to a broadband network.

The county began converting schools to the fiber-optic network in September, Mary Beckelhimer, county board of education director of technology, said. Winfield Middle School, the final school to join the network, had the system installed on Monday, she said.

Reach Veronica Nett

at veroni...@wvgazette.com or 348-5113.