Sichting 'impressive' in dealing with bomb threats

To say Bloomfield Superintendent Dan Sichting had a tough Thursday night and Friday would be a major understatement.

They were the type of days he was told about in his administrative classes. But it's all part of the job when you're the CEO, so to speak, of a school.

On Thursday night the hiring of a new athletic director took on a life of its own, and then Friday morning someone called in another bomb threat. Classes were canceled for the day.

It's the second time in just over a week that a bomb threat was called in to the school. The first happened Aug. 23 at the corporation's annual open house.

My only comment about the board tabling the decision to hire an athletic director is that it's extremely tough being a principal, and adding the athletic director's job on top of that isn't fair to anyone.

I don't care how good you are, something is going to suffer. That's not fair to the principal/AD, and definitely isn't fair to the students and coaches.

I hope Rick Hudson doesn't return the new clothes he purchased in hopes of starting his position as AD. You never know what might happen.

I've talked with several people who witnessed how Sichting orchestrated the evacuation of the school following both bomb threats, and one word was always mentioned: Impressive.

From this seat, I couldn't agree more.

In the course of trying to make sure his students were safe and taken care of, he still took the time to keep the media informed.

I know for a fact parents appreciate him doing that. Many have told me, and have commented on this newspaper's Web site.

In this age of the Internet, the media can be a major help in a case like this. Sichting used this newspaper to get the word out to parents, family members and anyone concerned about what was happening following both bomb threats.

Sichting took the threats seriously, which is exactly what he should have done. This newspaper took the threats seriously, because we know parents want to know. They have a right to know.

Parents send their children to school each day with the idea that they're going to be safe. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case.

Thank goodness nothing major has happened in our area. No shootings, stabbings or a bomb exploding.

But we can't bury our heads in the sand and automatically assume that it's a hoax. By burying our heads, we only open ourselves up for something to happen.

Sichting deserves a pat on the back for a job well done.

And let's hope the police find out who made the calls, and they're prosecuted.