FARMINGTON — Students at Mt. Blue High School will be bused to alternate sites today because of a bomb threat made for that day earlier this week.

A written threat was found Monday in a bathroom at the high school in Farmington, Superintendent Michael Cormier said.

“It just said, ‘bomb Friday,'” he said.

Police and school officials have been investigating the threat this week and have not identified the person behind it, Cormier said.

The high school’s principal, Monique Poulin, released a statement about the threat Wednesday, explaining the plan to hold the classes at other buildings within the school district.

“With the safety of students and staff members our utmost priority, we have arranged for students to be bused to several other schools for the day,” she wrote in the statement posted on the district’s website.

She said that the decision to not cancel classes was made after “a thorough investigation and careful consideration.”

Added safety measures are also being taken today at the other school buildings because of the threat, Cormier said Thursday.

Students are being asked to leave backpacks and all other bags at home, and school officials and police will be monitoring the buildings, he said. He would not comment on details of the threat or investigation.

Previous threats made over the years against school buildings in Mt. Blue Regional School District 9 have not required the same reaction. Each case is taken seriously, investigated and the appropriate safety precautions are taken, according to Cormier.

“You can’t ignore things like this in today’s environment,” he said.

Police plan to search the entire high school today for bombs. The 737 students at the high school are expected to resume classes at the building on Monday, Cormier said.

“We are continuing to investigate this incident, both from a school and police perspective, and we are frustrated that the actions of one individual are having this type of impact on our entire student population,” Poulin said in her release.

The statement asked parents to provide a note if they chose to keep their children home from school today. They can also send an email to [email protected].

Classwork missed by students who stay home today will be made up like any other excused absence, Cormier said.

Some of the 105 students in the Foster Technology Center program are also being affected by the threat to the high school campus, where a major renovation project is under way.

The site is where the $60 million Mt. Blue learning campus is being built, bringing together programs at Mt. Blue High School and Foster Technology Center, a career training school for students in the region.

The career technology program has some students at the high school campus, as well as classrooms at a former shoe factory in Farmington, which the district leased for three years.

Students at Foster Tech come from Mt. Blue, Jay, Livermore Falls, Rangeley and Mount Abram high schools.

Farmington police administrators were unavailable for comment late Thursday afternoon.

David Robinson — 861-9287

[email protected]