Teaneck Police Probe Elementary School Threat
Bomb threat received by e-mail, authorities say
Teaneck police are investigating a bomb threat that prompted an evacuation at Hawthorne Elementary School Thursday morning, officials said.
The threat was received via e-mail at around 9:50 a.m., according to Principal Deirdre Spollen-LaRaia. Township police deemed the school safe and students were allowed back in less than two hours later.
Police Chief Robert Wilson said students were temporarily brought to Thomas Jefferson Middle School during the incident. The Bergen County Police Department's K-9 unit also assisted in sweeping the school.
"We are in constant cooperation with the police department, as they actively investigate this situation and as we take every measure to ensure the safety of our students and staff," Spollen-LaRaia said in a letter released by the school.
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In This article
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Hawthorne School
233 Fycke Ln, Teaneck, NJ -
Thomas Jefferson Middle School
655 Teaneck Rd, Teaneck, NJ
Joe
12:52 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Why weren't parents allerted to this situation? As a parent of two children in this school, I find it incredibly distrubing that parents were not informed.
Natalie
2:10 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
I WAS TOLD ABOUT THIS BOMB SCARE BY A FRIEND! WHY WASN'T A ROBO CALLED INITIATED? I'VE RECEIVED BEFORE.
JamesTS
2:14 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
the school did post it on the website... but i did also read that on The Patch first. Things are happening quickly.. I cant blame the school for not being as fast as the media.
jackie miller
2:33 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Thank-you to the staff of the school for taking care of our children!
Charelle Wilson Hanley
2:45 pm on Sunday, February 17, 2013
Communicating with parents about this situation should have happened in the form of a letter or an email to the parents at the end of the day. Parents should have been informed about how the school administration handled the situation by providing parents with the step-by step procedures that are in place.
I can understand why the administration did NOT robo call each parent during the day. I can envision hysterical parents showing up at the school to see what happened; or running to the school to remove their kids; or bombarding the school and administrative offices with phone calls from concerned parents looking for details about what happened for the rest of the afternoon. Maintaining the normalcy of the school day was probably what the administration was striving for.
After not being told, parents’ reactions are obvious: What is the administration hiding? What other important things am I not being told? Why wouldn’t the administration think that I need to be informed of this situation?
The administration can only build trust with parents if they are able to share information with their parents about what, how and when these life-saving decisions are made that affect their children. This prepares parents with answers to questions and enables them to have intelligent discussions with their children about these situations instead of being surprised and playing catch up when their child tells them about their day.