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After a 鈥渃redible鈥� bomb threat prompted officials to shut down Los Angeles鈥檚 sprawling public school system Tuesday, Superintendent Ramon Cortines explained that he wasn鈥檛 going to take any chances.

Yet, on the other side of the country, officials in New York made a different decision when faced with the exact same bomb threat, keeping schools open.

By Tuesday afternoon, the threat had been dismissed as not credible. The electronic message referring to backpacks and 鈥渙ther packages鈥� with bombs was traced to an address in Germany, and the Los Angeles Times, quoting law enforcement, reported that there was no sign that 鈥渢his individual is actually capable of carrying out the threat.鈥�

The different responses poignantly highlight a deeper question for Americans in a post-9/11 world: How should officials draw the line between excessive fear and practical caution?

In Los Angeles鈥檚 case, the answer seems to have been influenced heavily by the Dec. 2 terror attack in nearby San Bernardino, Calif. Call it the 鈥淏russels effect.鈥� In the week after the massive terror attack in Paris, Brussels shut down for four days amid an ongoing manhunt for one suspect.

Los Angeles鈥檚 decision is a reminder that similar disruptions to American cities' daily social and economic rhythms can be only a mouse-click away. Yet it also points to a calmer and more sanguine response to the threat of terror, with the city and late.

As the nation continues to calibrate its responses to the ongoing threat of terrorism, Tuesday was a dramatic case study in how difficult every decision can be.

鈥淎 threatening e-mail ... sent from overseas, and 900 schools are closed. In the wake of the San Bernardino shootings could the L.A. school board afford not to act with caution? Probably not,鈥� writes Danny Davis, a professor of homeland security at Texas A&M University in College Station, in an e-mail to the Monitor.

鈥淏ut the ripples 鈥� economically, politically, socially 鈥� this threat is sending through southern California pose significant challenges to all levels of government policy makers.鈥�

For his part, Superintendent Cortines, who is retiring in a matter of days, chose to act from an abundance of caution. 聽 聽

鈥淭he circumstances in the neighboring San Bernardino 鈥� I think what has happened in the nation, I think what happened internationally鈥� was a factor in the decision to keep the city鈥檚 640,000 public school students home, Cortines said. 鈥淚, as superintendent, am not going to take the chance with the life of students.鈥�

By contrast, New York officials did not immediately view Tuesday鈥檚 threat as credible. New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton even criticized the Los Angeles school closings, calling the move a made before consulting the Los Angeles Police Department.

鈥淏ased on the information that we have, this was a very generic piece of writing sent to a number of different places simultaneously and also written in a fashion that suggests that it鈥檚 not plausible, and we鈥檝e come to the conclusion that we must continue to keep our school system open,鈥� said. 鈥淚n fact, it鈥檚 very important not to overreact in situations like this.鈥�

Experts point out that the New York Police Department鈥檚 antiterrorism unit has become one of the most well-prepared in the world. It has even done its own international intelligence gathering.

But some say Los Angeles鈥檚 reaction, too, was understandable.

鈥淚 think what [Los Angeles officials] were doing was being cautious, going through the protocols,鈥� says Tod Burke, a criminal justice at Radford University in Virginia. 鈥淎nd these are necessary, providing that it is indeed a credible threat 鈥� a law enforcement term, who must make the determination of what is credible.鈥�

The issue of backpacks at schools is a real one, Professor Burke notes. To what extent can officials ensure public safety when they receive threats that someone may be carrying a backpack with a bomb, when practically everyone on campus has one?

鈥淎nd so from a psychological standpoint, that鈥檚 exactly what terrorism is: It鈥檚 to provoke fear so that your operations stop,鈥� he says.

The disruptions were felt by Los Angeles parents this morning, with many having to make quick arrangements to pick up their children, many of whom were already on the way to school. This then kept them from going to their jobs 鈥� a ripple effect with economic consequences, experts say.

鈥淔amilies with kids were faced with a loud wake up call this morning, when the concept of terrorism actually affected their daily life,鈥� says Carole Lieberman, a Hollywood-based psychiatrist and author of 鈥淐oping with Terrorism: Dreams Interrupted.鈥� 鈥淣o longer was it something they just had to hear about on the news 鈥� now they had to scramble to make alternative arrangements for their kids.鈥�

But there were also signs of the city rallying to support a difficult decision.

And many of the children of the Los Angeles Unified School District, of course, didn鈥檛 mind at all.

鈥淸O]ur son, who is a first-grader at an LAUSD elementary school, was so excited by the prospect of staying home for the day that he didn鈥檛 ask any questions,鈥� Kerry Cavanaugh Tuesday. 鈥淗e鈥檚 heard of snow days on the East Coast. I guess this is the modern-day equivalent of a snow day? A terror day?鈥�

But Dr. Lieberman, out and about in Los Angeles Tuesday, says she understands the quick reactions by public school officials. They 鈥渁re understandably very wary and on the lookout for the next attack,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut, to say they are 鈥榯rigger happy鈥� may be overstating it, because it is better to be ready than complacent.鈥�