A Vista middle school canceled a graduation ceremony Wednesday after a suspicious device was discovered near school grounds.
San Diego County sheriff's deputies closed Melrose Drive to traffic between Olive Avenue and Ascot Drive when they received the report of a possible pipe bomb around 7:15 a.m.
The device was located near a portable toilet along the fence line between Washington Middle School and Discovery Hills Day Treatment, a special education program run by the San Diego County Board of Education.
A Vista Unified School District official said the principal sent out a recorded notice to students' parents before school to say the school was closed.
Administrators also canceled the 8th grade promotion ceremony.