So someone from Frankfurt, Germany – or someone just using a Frankfurt server – sends a 360-word amateurish email to schools in Los Angeles and New York threatening a possible terrorist attack and it not only results in the closure of 1,100 schools in L.A. but it makes front-page news across the country.

It seems to me if the goal of terrorists is to create terror and cause disruption, they won that round.

As a parent of two school-age kids, I get the concern.  The threat reportedly involved a large-scale jihadi attack with guns and bombs. Scary. But I would be pretty angry if mine were among the 640,000 kids who were sent home on Tuesday – during finals week.

When was the last time a terrorist– or any wackjob with a rifle – warned a school, business, soccer arena, etc. before launching an attack?

The daylong shutdown reportedly cost the LA district some $29 million in state funding. It also cost countless working parents headaches and lost work hours as they scrambled to figure out what to do with their kids.

New York did it right. School officials there dismissed it as a silly hoax and went ahead and held classes. I guess I have a New York state of mind on this one.

–       Paul Gullixson