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Branford’s Board of Education (BOE) is revising the district’s bomb threat policy after parents expressed concern that school officials failed to report an alleged bomb threat to police last October.
The BOE unanimously approved a draft of the new policy Wednesday, and is expected to give final approval as soon as the proposal is reviewed by the Branford Police Department and state officials.
The policy change comes after an incident in October when an alleged bomb threat was found in a girls’ bathroom stall at Walsh Intermediate School. The threat said that Walsh was in for a bombing the next day at 2 p.m. Above the writing, a police report says, were a series of numbers that appeared to be a date: “/15/13.”
Parents have taken school officials to task for not immediately reporting the incident to police or informing parents in a timely fashion. Click here to read a story about what happened.
The three girls who discovered the written threat reported it immediately. But according to the police report of the incident, schools Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez did not report the threat to the school’s youth officer until the following day, Oct. 16, “at 1530 hours” (3:30 p.m.), 90 minutes after the so-called bomb deadline passed.
The proposed policy stipulates that all bomb threats must be reported immediately to police. The current policy says that police should be notified, but it does not say “immediately.”
At Wednesday’s BOE meeting Hernandez maintained that the October incident was “criminal mischief” and not a bomb threat.
A parent, Kim McHenry again expressed her concerns about the October incident. At Wednesday’s meeting she said: “It comes down to the safety of the children.” She also asked for more information.
“We can’t fix what has already happened, but we can learn from it,” said board chair Michael Krause. He said a new bomb threat policy will be enacted after input is received from police and from the Connecticut Association of Board of Education (CABE). Krause moved quickly to review the school system’s practices after parents came to a BOE meeting to discuss it. He appointed the subcommittee whose report was outlined at this week’s meeting.
“We had a policy and we just didn’t follow it,” McHenry told the board.
Copies of the draft policy were handed out at the meeting. Dr. Kate Marsland (top photo right), who co-chairs the policy review committee, said considerable time was spent revising the policy. “The changes are quite extensive. The current policy is very brief,” she told the board. “The new one is elaborative and prescriptive.”
The draft proposal, which is four pages long, was based on one recommended by CABE. The current policy, which is on the district’s Web site, is only 10 sentences, and was adopted in 2001.
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Hernandez (pictured left) said the draft policy has already been sent to the police department for their input.
WHAT HAPPENED IN OCTOBER
Hernandez has previously said the message found in October did not constitute a “viable threat. At no time were any students in danger. That is a very, very key point and the assessment was concurred by the Branford Police Department.”
Top police officials said they could make no such assessment because they were not informed of the incident until after it happened and they could conduct no investigation of their own. The handwriting was wiped clean, they said, before they could see or analyze it. A photograph of the evidence taken by a school official was available. Hernandez said he concluded that the threat was not viable based on his own experience and after discussion with Walsh principal Robin Goeler.
According to a police report on the October incident, the words “Walsh is in for a bombing tomorrow at 2 p.m.” had been written on a toilet paper dispenser. The 8th grade girl who found the message on Oct. 15 reported it to her guidance counselor, who in turn alerted school officials. Police said Hernandez did not report the incident to police until the next day, Oct 16 at 3:30 p.m., which was 90 minutes after the so-called threat deadline passed.
Police Chief Kevin Halloran told the Eagle in December that police did a “retrospective” inquiry, because they were notified after the event, and they subsequently labeled the offense as “criminal mischief.”
Parents, who learned of the incident from their daughters, attended a Nov. 20 BOE meeting to air complaints about how the incident was handled. They said school officials should have called police immediately and should have notified parents.
At the November meeting, Krause said the board would begin an inquiry into policies right away. Newly elected board members Marsland and John O’Connor were appointed as co-chairs of the policy review committee.
DRAFT PROPOSAL
During an interview, Marsland told the Eagle that the proposed policy is much more extensive that the current one. “It’s more comprehensive, it’s more specific and more prescriptive … It’s actually directive as to what must happen [if there’s a bomb threat] and the consequences if that doesn’t occur.”
She said the committee was assisted by administrators, teachers and parents who attended the meetings. “We really want input at multiple levels,” Marsland said.
The committee is doing a review of all the district’s emergency policies. “We started with the bomb threat policy in response to that situation,” she said in regard to what occurred in October.
Marsland said CABE will be doing a full policy audit in the Branford School District this summer, since one hasn’t been undertaken since 2006. “We decided not to wait and to start doing the review now. We really felt it was a priority to review the policies.”
She said the results of the audit will guide further revisions.
The proposed policy gives an extensive definition of a bomb, and also includes look-alike bombs and other hazardous and toxic or biomedical materials. A threat can be verbal, non-verbal or by electronic means. It states, “Any bomb threat, or perceived bomb threat, will be regarded as an extremely serious matter and treated accordingly. The board directs the superintendent or his/her designee to react promptly and appropriately to information concerning bomb threats and to initiate or recommend suitable disciplinary action.”
The policy spells out what happens if a threat is not reported. Any student or school employee who learns of a bomb threat is directed to report it to school officials. The policy further states “All bomb threats shall be reported immediately to the local law enforcement authority as provided in the bomb threat procedures. The superintendent shall be responsible for reporting any bomb threat to the Board of Education.”
The policy states that any student or school system employee who makes a bomb threat can be subject to criminal prosecution, and can face disciplinary action. Any student who fails to report knowledge of a bomb threat or existence of a bomb will be subject to disciplinary consequences. Any school employee who fails to report information or knowledge of a bomb threat will be subject to discipline up to and including termination of employment.
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According to the proposal, the superintendent or his designee shall develop and implement procedures specific to bomb threats as part of the district’s Crisis Response Plan. This plan would address several procedures, including threat assessment, building evacuation, communications contacts and parent notification process. The bomb threat procedures must be approved by the board.
THE CURRENT POLICY
The current bomb threat policy, which is 6114.3 on the digital list of policies on the schools’ website, is brief. It directs anyone receiving a threat to notify the principal, and states that fire and police officials must be notified. It also states that the investigation of the threat and the search of the building will be conducted by fire or police officials in conjunction with school personnel, and addresses the issue of evacuating the school.
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