Three Vancouver Island high schools reopened today (January 26) after emergency closures on January 25.

Comox's Highland Secondary and Courtenay's G.P. Vanier and Mark R. Isfeld secondary schools in the Comox Valley school district were closed after RCMP detected an unspecified safety risk at one of the three schools. The closures affected about 3,000 students and staff.

After an RCMP investigation, the RCMP and the school district determined that the schools were safe.

“This was an unprecedented situation," district superintendent Dean Lindquist stated in a news release. "Never have we had a safety issue that impacted more than one school at one time.

Provincial secondary school exams that were scheduled for January 25 have been rescheduled to today.

School District 71 Comox Valley's communications department Mary Lee and health and safety director Paul Berry explained their emergency procedures in a video.

Berry said that based on the information received, they believed that the threat was outside school buildings. Consequently, they implemented a "hold-and-secure" emergency procedure, in which students and staff could remain within their buildings while all external entrances were locked.

Berry stated that after they received information that the threat was contained, the protocol was lifted. He did not offer any further details about the threat or how it was contained.

After an investigation, Comox RCMP Cst. Rob Gardner announced in a news release that the RCMP have arrested two students for uttering threats. The students have been released to their parents. Anyone with information about these threats are asked to contact investigators at 250-338-1321.

The situation occurred two days after West Vancouver Secondary School was evacuated and shut down due to a bomb threat on January 23. After West Vancouver RCMP investigated, they deemed the school safe and reopened it on January 24.