ROCHELLE — Following a written threat at the Rochelle Middle School Monday, school officials and Rochelle Police continued to investigate this week.
This morning, a bomb sniffing dog conducted a search of the school, yielding no results.
Rochelle Elementary District Superintendent Todd Prusator informed parents of the pre-planned precautionary measure via the district’s Alert Now system. A letter will be sent home with students as well.

The following is a copy of the letter prepared by officials.
Dear Parents/Guardians,

On Thursday, March 2, in conjunction with the Rochelle Police Department, we did a search of RMS with a bomb sniffing dog at 8:45 a.m. This was a pre-planned precautionary measure and not a response to any additional information or specific information that there was a bomb in the building. This was part of the additional security measures planned with Rochelle Police Department on Monday when we were responding and planning on the initial threat that was discovered in a bathroom stall.
We understand that this is a stressful time and the investigation is ongoing. We are continuing to take measures to provide a safe environment for students and staff and appreciate your understanding and patience with the process. As stated in the initial letter, most threats are intended to create fear and disruption and not to do actual harm. If doing harm was the primary objective, most likely advanced warning would not help achieve that purpose.
I want to thank the Rochelle Police Department for their response and support to this situation as well as the RMS faculty and staff who have willingly assisted in taking extra measures in their already busy schedules to assist in the additional precautions.
Due to the ongoing investigation, we cannot give at this time any additional information on the status of the investigation. The same is true in regards to communicating security measures that we have or will implement to limit the knowledge of those measures to anyone wanting to do harm.
Again we appreciate your patience and encourage any information that may help with this investigation. Information will be held as confidential as possible. Also a student can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-228-4488. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1000 for information that leads to an arrest.

Sincerely,
Todd Prusator
Superintendent