Toronto school cancels classes for rest of year after anonymous threat

A Toronto private school has cancelled classes for the remainder of the year after it received an anonymous email and phone threat earlier this week.

The incident at Branksome Hall happened shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Monday and briefly resulted in the school being placed under a lockdown. Police told CP24 at the time that the lockdown was implemented “out of abundance of caution.” The school reopened a short time later after police determined there was “no immediate threat” to students and staff.

Students, however, were sent home for the rest of the day.

On Monday evening, Branksome Hall sent a letter home to parents advising them that classes are being cancelled for the remainder of the school year. The last day of classes scheduled for the 2021-2022 school year at Branksome Hall was Tuesday, June 14.

In a statement provided to CP24, spokesperson Liisa Stephenson said they decided to end the school year early after “carefully weigh(ing) the risks … against the safety of our community.”

“We are grateful to our employees who stepped in to calm students, support each other and engage swiftly and efficiently with our lockdown protocols, as well as Toronto Police Services for their guidance and responsiveness. We also thank our students and parents for their patience, cooperation and for the messages of support and understanding shared,” she said.

“We have made arrangements for exams and are working with our parent and employee community to find creative ways to wrap up the end of the year and celebrate our students’ accomplishments.”

Branksome Hall held an on-campus graduation ceremony in May for its Grade 12 students. End-of-year ceremonies for students in Grades 6 to 11 will be held “mostly virtual” this week, the school said.