School officials decided to close Derby Middle School on Nutmeg Avenue today after a written threat was discovered in a girls’ bathroom Monday.
The move comes after parents complained about a lack of information from the school district during Monday’s incident, which triggered a “lock in” at the middle school from 11:45 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.
Parents said they didn’t know about the situation until the “lock in” was lifted Monday afternoon.
The “lock in” meant students were not allowed to leave their classrooms Monday.
The threat was written in a bathroom stall. The author threatened to blow up the school and to bring a gun to school. In addition, the threat contained a few names of students and staff.
Derby Police Chief Gerald Narowski said police quickly determined there was no imminent danger to the kids in the school.
The chief said clearing the building and having the children venture into Monday’s rainstorm was a more legitimate threat. He said “sheltering in place” while police investigated was the right thing to do.
“This was a textbook low risk threat,” Narowski said.
The investigation then pivoted to finding out who wrote the note. Police have narrowed it down to a group of female students. The chief said the motive was probably to cause a disruption within the school, as opposed to physical harm.
“This is not a whodunit,” Narowski said, noting police have reviewed security cameras in the area of the bathroom. At the same time, police aren’t guaranteeing they will be able to bring formal charges against a juvenile in the case.
Explosive-detecting dogs from the state police conducted a sweep of the school building at about 9 a.m. Tuesday with “negative results,” the chief said.
The Derby chief of police issued a statement on the matter at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. It is embedded below:
Superintendent Matthew Conway held an informal meeting with parents Monday night to answer questions about the incident. The issue was also discussed at the Derby Board of Education meeting Monday night.
The superintendent’s office sent out a robocall Tuesday morning stressing there “is no threat” against any school.
Regarding complaints from parents, Board of Education member Jim Gildea said the school administration has acknowledged that the notifications should have gone out sooner Monday.
“The superintendent will be following up on providing additional training for such future occurrences,” Gildea said.
Gildea said the school board Monday night listened to concerns from parents. The fact the threat named names was especially upsetting for parents.
The decision to close the school as a precaution was made late Monday.
The fact that an arrest had not been made, combined with the specifics of the message, caused the school board to “err on the side of caution,” Gildea said.
Gildea said ideally, the police will apprehend a person responsible Tuesday, and school will resume Wednesday morning.
If not, school officials are working on a “re-entry” plan that will probably involve an increased staffing presence at the school Wednesday as a precaution, Gildea said.
However, the Derby police chief said he disagreed with the decision to close the school today. He said the school board’s decision to close could cause copycat incidents within the school. He said there are no plans to have an increased police presence at the school Wednesday.
“I believe that closing the school was unnecessary,” Narowski said.
The schools superintendent released a statement to parents late Monday:
“After consultation with the Derby (Board of Education) and the Derby police, in order to allow the Derby police time to complete their investigation of today’s incident, Derby Middle School will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 18,” he said.
The Derby Public Schools website posted the following message Tuesday morning:
Good Morning,
Yesterday a threatening statement was discovered on a bathroom wall at the middle school. While the police have determined there is not a credible threat, they are working today to identify the source of the statement. In the meantime we are taking every precaution and utilizing every resource available to us to ensure students, staff and parents feel safe reentering the school. There is no threat to the middle school or any other school.
Thank you.
Monday’s discovery also caused Derby High School across the street to “shelter in place” Monday, according to a post on the high school’s Twitter feed.
Due to threatening messages written on a bathroom wall across the street at Derby Middle……DHS facilitated a shelter in place lockdown.
— Derby High School (@DerbyRedRaider) November 17, 2014