F.H. Collins Secondary School was evacuated following a bomb threat made against the school at about at 1 p.m. Monday.

Students were moved to the school’s designated evacuation area, the Department of Education said.

“In an emergency situation, our first priority is the safety of students and staff,” the department said.

“During the evacuation, staff stayed with students and ensured all students were safe.” 

The RCMP, who would not comment on the situation, eventually declared the school safe, and it resumed normal operations.

All afternoon and evening programs at the school were made available as usual.

Parents of F.H. Collins students were able to pick them up at Selkirk Elementary School starting at 3:30 p.m. School buses started picking up F.H. Collins students at 2:50 p.m.

“Thank you to the RCMP and school staff for their quick action to keep students safe, and we thank everyone for their patience while we dealt with this situation with the RCMP,” the department said.

Police closed the Robert Campbell Bridge during the drama.

That created long lines of traffic on Second Avenue and Lewes Boulevard on a day when Riverdale was particularly busy because the federal election was taking place.