Rockville High School was placed on “secure” status on Wednesday after Montgomery County police, Rockville police and Maryland Park Police responded to what turned out to be a “swatting call.”

Police said there was no validity to the initial report of an incident at the school.

The swatting call comes the day after the University of Maryland at College Park was targeted by a false report of an active shooting. There have been as many as 20 such false reports targeting colleges and universities across the country starting in late August, when students returned to campus.

WTOP contacted Montgomery County Public Schools to ask about information first reported by Bethesda Magazine stating that Rockville High School and Meadow Hall Elementary Schools had been placed on “secure” status sometime around 2 p.m.

The school system’s newly adopted “Standard Response Protocol” explains that the term “secure” is used when there are “external threats such as police activity near the school.” In such cases, students and staff are brought inside the school building, external doors are locked and normal activities can carry on inside.

In a “lockdown” situation, according to the new protocol, staff and students would be instructed to lock classroom doors, turn off lights, stay quiet and out of sight and not open doors.

Evacuations would be carried out when it’s determined that it’s safer for staff and students to be outside the building, like for a fire, gas leak or unsafe structure. Students would be guided out of the building to a dedicated evacuation area.

And the term “hold” would be used when it’s determined that having hallways clear is needed. In that case, classes could continue as normal.