Somers School Reacts to Student Threat

After an alleged threat earlier this week by one student against some peers "caused a major disruption to (the) school environment" at the , education officials here insist the school is safe.

In a letter sent home to parents of middle school students Thursday, Principal Nancy Barry wrote that school personnel are taking the situation "very seriously" and have taken "appropriate actions to ensure the safety of the school community."

Friday, Maynard Suffredini said that the story had been blown out of proportion and distorted. He said that the administration got involved, spoke to all the children involved in the incident and got to the bottom of it.

"There were a number of kids that initially said one story and then the stories changed later on and so it's like that little game when you get a lot of people lined up and you whisper something in one person's ear and by the time you get to the other end, it's a totally distorted story," he said. "There's some evidence of that happening."

"In the meantime, people started making phone calls to the police and everybody else," Suffredini said. "There were a number of people that were pulled in, but the administration did also speak to the police to make sure that we followed our school regulations. It was handled. It was proven to be nothing and the matter was addressed."

In addition to alerting parents about the situation, Barry wrote that the staff have been notified and asked to keep a "watchful eye (on the) students and any concerns that are voiced."

She also wrote that any students who are "upset or showing signs of worry have been directed to the office or to support services."

Suffredini said that the administration is still following up with other students who may have been involved. He said that the administration is looking into whether bullying was a factor.

"The administration is still working on their investigations because that's a concern that we have," he said of the potential for bullying to have been a reason for the threat. "Quite frankly, if we feel that there is bullying involved, there's going to be enforcement on our regulations on bullying."

While the administration is still looking into the threat, Suffredini said that parents and students should not be concerned when going to school.

"The school is safe, there are no concerns for any bodily harm or physical threats," he said. "They're back to normal now. We do not have a concern with him following through or whether it's this child in question or whether it's other children who are involved in the mix. We feel that the investigation that the administration conducted – and the police involvement, too – that there is not a concern for a threat. Period."

Suffredini said that the letter home to the parents was Barry's attempt to be proactive and communicate with them.

"I think that's good – as opposed to people not knowing what's going on," Suffredini said. "The school was open in terms of trying to assuage people's concerns about things that were flying around."

While it was determined that there is nothing to be concerned about, the administration took the threat very seriously.

"Anytime there's ever a concern of a threat or anything, we certainly want to make sure we investigate it and that we don't take it lightly," Suffredini said. "Because obviously, with past events, one never knows what could potentially happen. We're pleased to say that this thing is settled out and we don't have any concerns of any violence or threats."