Recent Bomb Threats Impact Multiple Hudson Valley Schools

Early this week, a number of schools in the Hudson Valley were forced to cancel afternoon activities after receiving terrifying bomb threats. Following the receiving of the threats both school officials and law enforcement quickly responded to the situation.

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Monday Afternoon Threats Hit Hudson Valley Schools

On Monday afternoon earlier this week, alerts rang throughout the Newburgh School District with the information that a staff member for the district received a bomb threat. Multiple reports state that after the threats were received, the district was quick to cancel after-school activities and evacuated necessary buildings for grades K-8.

Local law enforcement from the Newburgh Police Department as well as the Orange County Sheriff's Office quickly responded to the threats and began an investigation. While the situation is still under investigation, officers were quickly able to determine that the threats made were NOT credible.

Multiple reports from News 12 detail that it was not just the Newburgh School District that faced this issue on Monday but also schools in the Rye, Pelham, and Bronxville School Districts also received similar threats. What is not currently clear is whether or not each of the schools in the district for ages K-8 was evacuated or if it was just select schools within the districts.

Aftermath of the Non-Credible Bomb Threats

While police are still investigating, the feeling seems to be that these threats were just another to add to this list of hoaxes called into local schools in recent months. For example, it was only a month ago that Suffern Senior High School in Rockland County was evacuated for receiving a bomb threat of their own, which was also discovered to be a hoax. You can read all the details of that story here.

In covering Monday's events, a number of residents in the area gave their thoughts on the situation. The general consensus as sad as it is, is that these recent threats are simply a shame.

It was also reported by News 12 that some teachers anonymously spoke out regarding the day's events. The teachers in question appeared to have some trepidation regarding the entire situation, namely about how the schools weren't evacuated earlier and whether or not classes should have been held on Tuesday.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office also spoke briefly regarding the threats that were made. When asked about schools' choice to dismiss students, the sheriff's office stated that that choice is squarely with the school districts. Each district when dealing with a situation like this is supposed to deal with it on a "case-by-case- basis". In addition, Sheriff also stated that currently there is no standard protocol to follow for schools to determine if evacuation is necessary or not.

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In the grand scheme of things, the issues brought up by those who spoke out pale in comparison to the fact that these recent threats were aimless and without merit. If any issues are present, they can be worked out by teachers and the school districts, what matters is that no one was harmed in this most recent event.