As a result of nine bomb threats called in to Ames High School in the past three weeks, students have been evacuated from the school on three occasions and the school year has been lengthened by two days.

Ames Chief of Police Dennis Ballantine said not all the threats called in to the high school have been bomb-related, but they are still under investigation. He said even though none of the threats has been carried out, it is hard for the school to judge whether the threats are real.

“Obviously, we’ve got to believe that this is an attempt to scare people,” he said. “They are either out for revenge or to get even. It’s clearly not someone thinking clearly.”

Ballantine said determining which threats are dangerous has put a lot of strain on the school.

“You can’t ever rule out the possibility that the threat could be real,” he said.

The number of threats the high school has received has been surprising, Ballantine said.

“It’s not unheard of for [Ames] to have things like this, but I guess I’m a little surprised at the number we have had,” he said.

Ballantine said his department was not releasing whether an individual or a group is suspected of the threats or whether they had any suspects at all.

Ames Community Schools superintendent Nick Johns believes the threats are in reaction to the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

“This really wasn’t a problem before the shootings at Littleton,” he said. “CNN did a good job publicizing the Littleton tragedies; it was basically a media circus.”

Though the thought of school violence continues to scare some students, some say the continued threats have become a hassle. Ames High junior Quinn Perrin said the bomb threats are becoming less scary and more routine.

“At first I was afraid to go back to school — it had only been a week after Columbine,” she said, “But now it’s sort of a regular thing, and that’s really sad.”

Beth Peterson, junior at Ames High, agrees that going to school was not a very pleasant thought after the original threats.

“At first it was very frightening because of everything that happened in Columbine,” Peterson said. “Now it’s just a hassle, especially considering that we have to start making days up.”

Ames High freshman Sarah Beisser agreed the disruption has caused a lot of make-up work for students, including extending the school year by two days.

“It’s really upsetting to all the students,” she said. “Especially the seniors because [the threats] are kind of taking away from their graduation.”

Beisser said the majority of students think the threats are empty, but still a nuisance.

“I don’t think [a bombing] is that likely,” Beisser said. “It’s kind of scary, though, because that’s what a lot of people elsewhere thought. Then it actually happened.”

Ames High Community Outreach Director Ray Richardson said there are several programs to help students deal with the stress of the threats.

“There is a psychologist from Mary Greeley [Medical Center] on staff at the school if students need to express anything they may be dealing with,” he said.

There also is a crisis community group that has been used in the past to help the community deal with similar situations, Richardson said.

“This group has been used for such situations as suicides,” he said. “Students are pretty vulnerable right now. There are students who still think it can’t happen to us.”