Bear Shuts Down Schools in Wayland, Moves Onto Framingham

Wayland Police and Fire Dispatch confirms that the bear appears to have moved out of Wayland. It was reportedly last seen in Framingham.

Wayland School Superintendent Gary Burton sent an email letting parents know that schools will be dismissed on time today.

"At no time were any of our students in danger, and I imagine that many of the younger ones will have no idea why they were kept inside on such a nice day," Burton's email reads. "Again, no one was ever in danger...other than the bear."

He added the environmental police continue tracking the bear for "relocation elsewhere."

Earlier in the day --

A bear sighting on Main Street in Wayland has schools in the area taking precautions to keep children indoors for the time being.

Superintendent Gary Burton said it appears the bear is moving out of town toward Framingham, but "As a precautionary action, we've sheltered in place children in the middle school, Happy Hollow and Loker."

Shelter in place means the children are not going outside the school right now, but are moving freely throughout the school building.

"The bear seems to be moving through Wayland rather quickly," Burton said, adding it was last seen near Stonebridge and Wallace and environmental police have been notified. "We hope he'll be out of Wayland rather quickly."

The Wayland Police Department, Burton said, is updating him regularly regarding the bear's location. There are no schools scheduled for dismissal until 1:10 p.m., when the middle and high schools let out.

Until he is confident the bear is well out of the area, he doesn't want students walking home or waiting at bus stops, but he is hopeful all will be calm before dismissal.

Burton said he will alert parents should there by any need to alter the dismissal times, but he stressed that the school is taking more than the necessary precautionary steps.

"There's no reason to be alarmed," Burton said. "The bear has not in any way caused any threat to humans. You can't have a bear running around suburbia anymore."

Burton said the younger children are unaware of the situation and this is simply being treated as an opportunity for the schools to conduct a drill of their shelter in place safety measures.