You are the principal at a high school. After lunch, a teacher tells you that she overheard a 10th grade male student at your school tell friends that he has a bomb in his backpack. You notify administrators and the police. You pull the student out of class and search his belongings. Several police officers come to school to question the student. He insists that he was just joking about the bomb. The police search his belongings and his locker. His demeanor is cavalier, and he appears to think that the whole event is a joke.

The police chief tells you that he is not certain that there is a bomb, but you might consider evacuating the building. You are unsure, as there is no evidence of this bomb and you do not believe this student ever brought a bomb to school. You are hesitant to disrupt the entire school for what you believe is not a real bomb threat.

District personnel come to campus and ask what you plan to do. You strongly believe that this child did not bring a bomb, and you are worried about the backlash of evacuating students for two hours. All you can think about is the negative publicity regarding this whole event.

What should you do? Which steps would you take?