Superintendent apologizes for giving false reason for school closing

(AP) A school superintendent who lied to students, parents and the media about why St. Louis Park High School was closed on Monday, apologized on Tuesday. Superintendent Debra Bowers said, "I want to apologize," after spending 24 hours thinking about her decision to put out the story that the school was closed due to a water main break, when actually there were rumors that somone wanted to commit violence. School administrators said last week's school killings in Colorado and Wisconsin played a part in their decision to put out a cover story.

Bowers and Principal Robert Laney said a student notified administrators around 8 p.m. Sunday about a rumor of violent intentions against the school.

The school's police liaison officer was called in. Seven students were interviewed and officials concluded some words had been misinterpreted.

"We were pretty comfortable about 10:30 that there wasn't a foundation to this," Laney said.

But a half hour later, police informed Laney about a call from a different student making similar allegations. At 11:30 p.m. they decided to close the school.

"I think you have to take every rumor and you have to investigate it because the potential is always there, unfortunately, in this day and age," the principal said. "Students often take actions where they don't think first. And with this type of a situation it can be deadly."

The superintendent on Monday said she took responsibility for the decision to put out the false report about their reasons for closing the school.