Bolsa Grande Attendance Back Up

Attendance was up at Bolsa Grande High School on Monday, after 56% of the student body missed school last week following a Columbine-style threat of violence.

Only 706 of Bolsa Grande’s 1,610 students attended class Friday, after school officials sent home a letter to parents warning them of the threat. Found in a desk before winter break, the paragraph-long threat written on a personal computer threatened harm against students at the Garden Grove school. It specifically mentioned Jan. 7.

“Attendance hasn’t been calculated for the day, but I was there this morning and it appeared that everything was going on normally,” said district spokesman Alan Trudell. “Kids were studying and playing and going to class as normal.”

Garden Grove police noticeably bolstered security at the school Friday and discreetly increased patrols Monday just in case the note’s date was incorrect, said Capt. Dave Abrecht. Police have interviewed some students hoping to learn the identity of the note’s author, but they have no suspects and have made no arrests, he added.

“We certainly would like to be able to identify whoever wrote that note,” he said. “That’s an area we’re still working on.”

While most threats made against schools are idle ones, law enforcement and school officials said they gave the note particular attention given a string of recent attacks against schools by students--most notably last spring’s deadly rampage at Colorado’s Columbine High.