Friday, October 15, 2004
To the community,
The goal of this letter is to be sure that everyone has a common understanding of what happened at Horace Greeley High School on October 14th and 15th regarding the bomb threat we received.
The administration learned of the threat during the evening of the 14th. We now know that students saw the threat, which was written on a bathroom wall, towards the end of school on the 14th, but the information was not communicated to the administration until later. The threat, which is described by the police as having minimal credibility, indicated a particular time and location. Once I became aware of it, I immediately informed the police who came to campus to investigate. That investigation began while a large audience of junior class parents listened to a college speaker in our auditorium.
I ended the college evening early by telling the gathered parents about the threat, by assuring them that they were safe on campus but needed to evacuate, and by indicating that the next day, Friday, would be a regular school day. When asked if students needed to come to school, I assured parents that I believed their children would be safe here. When asked if children who were kept home by parents would be penalized, I said no. Through the PTA’s class parent committees we attempted to get the same information out to the broader community as quickly as possible. While this was occurring, our local police, supported by bomb experts and a bomb-sniffing dog, searched the campus and determined that it was safe.
On Friday morning, with perhaps one quarter of the student population in attendance, we found a second note in a different bathroom. The note was similar but even less credible than the first. The police again examined the note, sealed off the bathroom, and are continuing their investigation. At approximately 9:45 we ran a fire drill and evacuated the students to our fields. We kept them there until about 10:10, at which time we called them to the gym, where I spoke to them about our safety on campus and about the seriousness of the crime committed by the person or people who wrote those notes. I also complimented the students on how well they conducted themselves during the drill.
We learn at least a couple of important lessons from this unfortunate event. First, we need and expect soon to have a better system of communication with our community. Though messages did get out to many parents, we know that the messages varied as they traveled through the many phone lines. We will shortly adopt the same automated phone alert system in use at our middle schools. Such a system should insure that all families receive the same message. Second, we can and will make better use of the school and district’s web sites and email alert systems.
We can do better, but, most importantly, the two days have passed and we go into the weekend looking forward to sports, and PSATs, and homework, and the Yankees and Red Sox, and time with our families, and for all of that, we are thankful.
Take care,
Andrew Selesnick
Principal
Horace Greeley