21 students hospitalized with heat-related illness after middle school is evacuated due to bomb threat

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/Gray News) - At least 21 students were hospitalized with heat illness, three of them in critical condition, after a middle school in Tennessee was evacuated because of a bomb threat.

Authorities confirmed Carter Middle School was evacuated Friday after a student reported a written threat.

“This morning at about 11, I think the initial call was a bomb threat here at Carter Middle School,” Rural Metro’s Jeff Bagwell said. “The school reacted as they should.”

The entire student body was sent to the football field of the high school they share a campus with.

Knox County is currently under a heat advisory, with temperatures reaching the mid to upper 90s on Friday. Bagwell said that after spending some time outside in sweltering heat, some students became sick.

“Several students began experiencing some signs of heat exhaustion and even heat stroke,” Bagwell said.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the students were outside for about an hour.

Bagwell said that some students were taken inside a field house in the stadium. Others became sick once the school was cleared and students were able to return.

Superintendent Jon Rysewyk said students were provided water and shade while outside.

“I think the Carter Middle staff did that well in this case,” he said. “In any of those situations where we have an outdoor evacuation, we ask staff to think about [monitoring weather] on the front side.”

Rysewyk avoided speaking specifically about where the students were able to access shade, saying security protocol keeps him from revealing too much about how schools react during emergencies. He did say school nurses were on the field helping evaluate and treat students who became sick.

That said, the superintendent also said the school system would review what happened Friday, possibly making updates to how evacuations happen in the heat.

“We always look back at those things, and we’ll look back on this and review it,” he said.

Rysewyk also said parents received a notice when the building was evacuated and again when the school was cleared. The superintendent said Carter Middle School’s principal, JD Overton, would be reaching out to parents with a follow-up.

In discussing the school district’s and law enforcement’s response to the bomb threat, Bagwell said their system worked “flawlessly.”

“The system has worked flawlessly, so the public should know the system works,” Bagwell said. “The students are safe and at no time were they in any harm or jeopardy.”

Bagwell didn’t speak about Knox County Schools’ policy surrounding bomb threats or whether the children should have been taken to another location due to heat.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office said it is still investigating the threat. No charges have been announced at this time.

“The Knox County Sheriff’s Office takes every threat involving the safety of our schools seriously,” a sheriff’s office representative said. “We appreciate the cooperation of Carter Middle School administrators, staff, students and our emergency response partners throughout this incident.”

The current conditions of the students who were hospitalized have not been confirmed.