Ames High School students were dismissed early from classes Monday afternoon after receiving a bomb threat that was written on the bathroom wall.

Ames Police Cmdr. Randy Kessel said the bomb threat was reported at about 11:30 a.m. after a student reported the message to school administration. Classes were dismissed at 1:30 p.m.

Kessel said the message was “very basic in nature.”

Ames Superintendent W. Ray Richardson said the decision to cancel school was made on a situational basis.

“With budget cuts and school closures, there is an element right now that you need to listen to where people are coming from, and the impact of what’s going on in the community around you plays a part in determining where you go,” he said.

Richardson said the school shooting in Minnesota several weeks ago was also on their mind when canceling school.

“Right now, there are enough things that are out of control that we needed to look at this more seriously,” he said.

Kessel said before determining the building was safe, officers followed a procedure in which they check the physical plan of the building with persons who are familiar with the surroundings to see if there are any suspicious objects. He said the search produced nothing.

“We have no further need to do anymore than what was done today,” he said.

Richardson said Ames High has not had a serious problem with bomb threats since a string of threats disrupted school activities in the spring of 1999. He said those threats were different because they were phoned in, adding a heightened sense of alarm. He said people have stopped calling in for the most part because technology is better in terms of tracing.

“It’s just one of those things that every so often they show up,” he said. “They often times happen in the spring, whether it’s someone trying to do a prank, or whether it’s actually real.”

He said charges for such a threat can range from harassment to terrorism.

“We will certainly make every type of attempt to find the person responsible,” he said.

Classes will resume Tuesday, but there will be a heightened security presence, Richardson said.