There were some tense moments Thursday morning as panicked parents got word a school district in Lycoming County was dismissing early.
Officials said the East Lycoming School District received a threat of some type Thursday morning, leading to the dismissal.
Investigators and school district officials are not saying much about that threat, but students at all four schools in the East Lycoming School District were dismissed early in case the threat was more than just a hoax.
Police and parents were outside the Hughesville Junior Senior High School not long after a threat prompted school officials to send students home at 10:30 a.m.
"If there's a bomb in there or anything, they need to get the kids out of the building," said parent Lisa Wilt.
Concerned for her daughters' safety, she came to get them. The school district contacted parents by phone, letting them know the situation was under control.
"We used our One Call Now system. That is a phone system that automatically contacts parents," said Superintendent Mike Pawlik.
Officials in the East Lycoming School District said they wanted to err on the side of caution when they received the threat early in the school day. Not only did they dismiss students at the Hughesville High School complex but also at elementary schools in Lairdsville and Picture Rocks.
"They said there's some safety issues, that evacuate the building and get home safe," said ninth grader Ian Hufnagle.
Students poured out of the high school headed for home and away from any possible danger while police planned to search the buildings.
At first, ninth grader Julia James said she was somewhat scared when she found out that her school day would be shortened by some sort of threat.
"A little bit. We didn't know what was going on, saw the cop cars outside," James said.
Most parents said they were glad the school district chose to dismiss students, Keri Krause included. She stopped by to take her seventh grade daughter home again.
"As a parent you always have that what if panic attack, but I think everybody's going to be okay except for that one person that's going to get in big trouble," Krause said.
There is still no word what kind of threat led to the early dismissal or whether anything was found in the high school.
East Lycoming School officials said they are still investigating and that school should return to normal Friday.