More than 100 students stayed home from Central Davis Junior High School Tuesday, fearing possible violence that never materialized.
"It was overblown," Layton City police spokesman Steve Brown said.Central Davis Principal Mike Timothy agreed. "It way way overblown.. . . It was just rumors floating around," he said.
Rumors circulated at school and in the community of possible retaliations after some students were suspended last week.
"We had a fight last week," Timothy confirmed. But contrary to rumor, it was not gang-related, he said.
He said 11 boys and nine girls were suspended in two separate incidents and they all returned to school Tuesday.
That day, 150 students more than usual were absent after some parents heard the rumors of possible violence and kept their children home.
Timothy said five officers were at Central Davis Tuesday after the school asked police for a show of support. However, there were no incidents of violence.
Timothy said the disciplined students have done everything they've been asked to do. They planned on eating lunch together and shaking hands Wednesday to show other students that everything's OK, he said.
On Wednesday, he said, everything appeared to be back to normal with attendance and attitude. Only the school resource police officer - who's always at the school for a half day anyway - was there.
Central Davis has an enrollment of 1,310 students.