Bomb threat prompts evacuation at Tamalpais High School

Ella Furuichi, Charlie Fee, and Ben Luka Sheddrick|December 1, 2022

Courtesy of Maeyana Vogt

On Nov. 29, at approximately 9:30 a.m., Tamalpais High School received an anonymous bomb threat via phone call, suggesting multiple bombs had been planted on the campus. Staff and students were immediately evacuated to the football field, and law enforcement arrived to secure the school and defuse the potential bombs. 

“I was at the orthodontist, and I’d come back to school to check in. When I opened the office door, the Vice Principal told me to evacuate to the field,” said freshman Cole Mapp. “You always hear about this stuff happening on the news, but for it to happen in real life… It was shocking.”

Maeyana Vogt, a senior at Tam, recalled students’ collective fear when first informed of the bomb threat.

“My teacher came into the classroom, and she seemed really scared. She told us that we had to leave immediately. She told us to leave our bags, and we went straight to the football field,” Maeyana said.

Following evacuation protocol, students were escorted to the football field and faculty conducted a roll call to make sure all students were accounted for. However, students felt unsafe remaining on the campus.

“I didn’t feel safe on the football field, personally, because we were still on campus and huddled together, which just feels unsafe, especially if there is someone that wants to hurt people at the school,” Maeyana said. 

Faculty takes roll call on the Tamalpais High School football field to ensure all students are accounted for. (Courtesy of Savannah Levy)

“This is a high school in America, so I’m not very surprised [about the bomb threat]. But it is one of those things that I thought would never happen to me,” Maeyana said. 

Maeyana said that she was not surprised by the bomb threat, citing school shootings at many American high schools.

After around 15 minutes of congregating on the field, staff relocated students to the Mill Valley Community Center to ensure students and staff safety. There, they organized a reunification center for parents to pick up students. 

Around 10:30 a.m, Corbett Elsen, the Tamalpais Union High School District’s [TUHSD] Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations sent an email out to the TUHSD community regarding the incident. Other than this initial update, not many details of the incident have been released by the district.

“We don’t know anything that’s going on, but there are a ton of police cars and SWAT teams at Tamalpais [High School],” said Tam senior Savannah Levy. 

TUHSD will continue to update the Tamalpais community and monitor the situation.