Two schools evacuated by bomb threats on same day
Marlboro police continue to seek those behind pranks
BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer

MARLBORO - Police are continuing to investigate a pair of bomb threats that caused the evacuation of Marlboro High School, Route 79, and the Marlboro Middle School, Route 520, on April 24.

Marlboro police Lt. Douglas Van Note said the high school was evacuated at about 11 a.m. when a piece of paper that contained the indication of a bomb threat was discovered in the building.

Law enforcement officers responded, but did not find any type of explosive device, he said. Students were permitted to return to the building to continue the school day.

Van Note said it became evident later in the day that pupils at the middle school were aware of the bomb threat at the high school because they received text messages on their cell phones from friends and relatives who were at the high school when that building was evacuated.

Immediately before dismissal (which is at 2:17 p.m.) on the same day, a scribbled bomb threat was discovered on a bathroom wall at the Marlboro Middle School, according to a letter sent to parents and guardians on April 25 by Marlboro K-8 Superintendent of Schools David Abbott. School administrators followed the district's crisis plan, which included the immediate evacuation of all students and staff from the building and the notification of the Marlboro Police Department.

Abbott said police responded in a matter of minutes and searched the building, which was declared safe and secure about 90 minutes after it was evacuated. Students had not been permitted back into the school at any point.

Asked if the two incidents were related, Van Note said, "That is a good question. A lot of students at the middle school were receiving text messages from the high school about the bomb threat there. Could that have given someone an idea? Maybe. We did not take the middle school [threat] as a credible one, but we followed all of our procedures in investigating."

The bomb threat at the middle school served as a learning experience for administrators, according to Abbott. He said the middle school bomb threat, which he called "an apparent hoax," focused administrators' attention on several matters that had not previously been considered, and which caused some confusion.

He wrote, "First, we discovered that middle schoolers do not know their bus numbers. Apparently, they board their buses based on where the vehicle is parked. (On April 24), buses parked in different spots because of the students' evacuation locations. Significant time was lost as students tried to find their buses. This resulted in very late Marlboro Middle School bus departures, which meant that middle schoolers arrived home later than usual.

"Since our buses do multiple runs, they arrived behind schedule at the elementary schools, so those children also arrived home later than usual. Please impress upon your children the importance of knowing their bus number. Almost all of our buses would have delivered the children home at the regular time had middle school students known which bus to board.

"Second, when we evacuate a school, students and staff are unable to take any personal belongings with them, including outerwear and backpacks. No one was able to re-enter the school building until it was declared safe, which took approximately 90 minutes. Students whose house keys were kept in their backpacks were unable to board buses to go home because they had no way of entering their houses.

"Those students were sent to our after-school program until a family member could pick them up. Please seriously consider having your child keep a house key on his/her person, i.e., chain around the neck, so that entry into your home is possible even if access to the child's backpack is not possible," Abbott wrote in his letter to parents and guardians.

He said that effective immediately, and until further notice, administrators have instituted restricted bathroom access at both middle schools. Aides will be posted outside of the bathrooms and will monitor student use as well as inspect the facilities to make sure they have not been defaced.

Abbott said administrators did not activate the reverse 911 system that is available to the school district through the Marlboro Police Department because it would have taken considerably longer to notify everyone. He said the police department is interviewing vendors in order to change the system to one that is capable of contacting residents in a shorter period of time. He said the school district also is in the process of researching faster, more efficient ways of reaching parents via e-mail and text messages, and expects a new system to be in place by late fall 2007.