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Daily School Threats Multiply In Hudson Valley, Nationwide Since Shooting

In the weeks since he Feb. 14 mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., there have been more than 72 threats every day at schools nationwide, according to an Ohio educational group.

Westchester County police assisted Rye police during the first of four bomb threats at Rye High School in 2014..

Westchester County police assisted Rye police during the first of four bomb threats at Rye High School in 2014..

Photo Credit: Jon Craig
Rye High students return to class Oct. 21, 2014, after the first of four bomb threats during the school year. Police made an arrest.

Rye High students return to class Oct. 21, 2014, after the first of four bomb threats during the school year. Police made an arrest.

Photo Credit: Jon Craig

That is more than seven times the normal daily average, which includes bomb threats and false fire alarms.

Since the massacre in Parkland, nearly 700 threats or violent incidents have been reported at almost 500 schools across the U.S., according to findings from the Educator’s School Safety Network.

Usually, there are about 10 to 12 a day, the Ohio-based school safety advocacy group said.

Daily Voice reported a number of school threats last week, including this one in Bronxville as well as this one in Westport. 

In Dutchess County, officials investigating this threat at Staples High School in Dover. 

Social media posts that may have, at a different time, gone unnoticed, have led to lockdowns, investigations and stepped up police presences.          

Since the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., during which 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student, killed 17 people,  many local districts have seen school activities disrupted by threats later deemed non-credible by authorities, including:

-- In Scarsdale,  police beefed up their presence at the high school following online threats

-- In Katonah, the Harvey School received a Twitter threat from out-of-state, prompting an FBI probe.

-- In Valhalla, a student was arrested after posting a Snapchat animated bomb video.

-- And in Pleasantville, a threat was deemed 'not credible, but' put the school district on two--hour delay. Superintendent Mary Fox-Alter notified her Pleasantville school community at 10:20 p.m. last Tuesday that they would be on a two-hour delay schedule after school officials were made aware of a threat from a middle schooler. By 11 p.m., the police department confirmed the threat was non-credible — but they kept the two-hour delay.

The decision to delay school was “out of an abundance of caution,” Fox-Alter’s note said. 

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