Bollards finally being removed at Glenunga International High School campus following arrest

School leadership has emailed parents with a change to daily operations at the campus after a man allegedly made threats to students and staff.

Bollards that surrounded Glenunga International High School are finally coming down after more than three months following the arrest of a man over threats to boil a female student with oil and attack the campus with a car.

Between November and February, the school received 13 threatening emails, allegedly from the man, causing fear within the school community and prompting extra security measures to be put in place.

The bollards were initially placed at the school in February after Glenunga International High School principal Wendy Johnson notified its community of “unpleasant emails”.

But in an email sent to the school community by principal Wendy Johnson and deputy Tim Kloeden on Tuesday, they said the barriers were coming down.

“We are pleased to advise that the temporary bollards along parts of our school perimeter are being removed,” they wrote.

“Continuing to maintain a safe and secure environment remains our consistent priority.

“Following our recent security situation, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your support and understanding.”

Extra security around Glenunga International High School, including bollards. Picture: RoyVPhotography

The campus will continue measures such as invacuation and evacuation safety drills and visitor screening “like any other school”.

“As this matter remains an ongoing investigation, we will not be able to provide further comment at this time,” the school leaders wrote.

The school community was not told of the severity of the threats until it was revealed following the man’s arrest on May 14.

An Education Department spokeswoman said earlier this month that “decisions around communications were made in collaboration with SAPOL at all times”.

“The safety and security of students, staff and the entire school community are always our highest priorities,” she said.

“Families, students and staff have been offered support if they need it.”

Security outside Glenunga International High School. Picture: Emma Brasier

Shortly after the arrest, Education Minister Blair Boyer had said while the school “is very keen to know when things will be back to normal”, SA Police would ultimately advise when that would occur.

“SAPOL does a lot of work on things like this, you might not see all the work, but need to have a level of trust that they absolutely know what they’re doing to keep us safe,” Mr Boyer said.

“We had to be very careful in terms of what communications were made around making sure the community stayed safe.

“We asked a lot of that school and that school community and they were pretty amazing in being resilient and stoic.”

Mr Boyer, who visited the school earlier this month to thank staff for their cooperation, said he had tasked the Education Department with organising a day to thank the Glenunga community.

An SA Police spokeswoman said the security measures protected “everyone involved while maintaining the normal operation of the school”.

Previously, Acting Police Commissioner Linda Williams said that the school community was safer knowing the man had been arrested.

The man – whose identity is suppressed – was charged with two counts of blackmail and one count of making it appear food had been contaminated.

She said the school was first made aware about the threats from “very early on”, and that SA Police shared “a lot of information with them to the level we were able to”.

“We say that we have mitigated the threat significantly, and we’re very comfortable that the school’s open today and we have been working with the Education Department,” she said.

Originally published as Bollards finally being removed at Glenunga International High School campus following arrest