SAUGERTIES, N.Y. — An unfounded bomb threat at Saugerties Junior/Senior High School on Wednesday drew a large multi-agency police presence, including explosive-detection police dogs, according to town police and Saugerties Central School District officials.
In a letter to parents, Saugerties Central School District Superintendent Gwendolyn Roraback said the district contacted police after discovering a bomb threat at the Saugerties Junior/Senior High School.
The Saugerties Police Department said in a post on Wednesday that it responded to the Saugerties Junior/Senior High School campus at 310 Washington Ave. along with the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
Police said, working in coordination with school district personnel, law enforcement and explosive-detection police dogs were utilized to “sweep and assist in securing the facility.”
“We took this threat seriously and collaborated with several law enforcement agencies throughout this process,” Saugerties Central School District Superintendent Gwendolyn Roraback said in a notice. “Law enforcement cleared safe passage throughout the building to enable a safe evacuation/dismissal of students with the assistance of their trained K-9 dogs. In the end, no credible threat was found, and the secondary campus was cleared for reoccupation.”
Once all areas were deemed safe, students were “dismissed to waiting buses and private transportation,” police added.
The Saugerties Police Department’s detective division, along with school district officials, have launched an investigation into the bomb scare to “determine its source,” officials said.
“When the individual(s) responsible for this threat are identified, consequences will be administered as allowable by both the District Code of Conduct and the law,” Roraback said.
Roraback issued the following statement to parents.
“While today’s threat was deemed not credible, that does not mean no harm was done,” Roraback said. “Please take a moment this evening to speak with your child about the seriousness of these situations and the consequences that can follow when the safety of our schools is at risk. Every year, across this country, thousands of students are arrested as a result of actual or implied threats to a school.”
“What may be intended as ‘funny’ can have severe lasting consequences,” she added.
Rorabeck said the district acknowledged that this event “may have been frightening for students,” and she urged any families who “need extra support processing this event” to contact the Junior or Senior High School counseling offices.
Police and district officials urged anyone with information to contact a building principal or the Saugerties Police Department.