Two Threats Found at Schools

Two suspicious threats were found in two of Livingston's schools on Friday, November 13.

The first threat occurred at Mount Pleasant Middle School and the second at the high school.

A "bomb" threat was discovered on a restroom wall at Mount Pleasant Middle School on Friday morning. Although there was no time or date associated with the message about a “bomb,”  the Livingston Police Department was notified immediately. The building — along with the adjoining elementary school — was quickly evacuated and students relocated off-site following the district's evacuation plan.

Due to inclement weather, students had to be moved to indoor locales.  Middle schools students were escorted by police to nearby Temple Beth Shalom. Elementary school students were bused to the high school.

Canine units searched both Mount Pleasant buildings but did not find anything suspicious, according to Captain Jeff Payne of the Livingston Police Department. It appeared to be a hoax, he indicated.

After the police deemed the buildings safe, students returned to the schools to resume classes.

Later in the day, a copycat threat was found in a bathroom at Livingston High School.  Because the threat was found close to dismissal time, students were allowed to leave school early so that the police could search the school.

Again, the police didn't find anything suspicious at the school.

"Everything ran smoothy, per our evacuation plan," said Jessica Ganz, manager of communications and community outreach for the district.  According to Ms. Ganz, the police is now investigating the matter.

The district immediately emailed emergency response letters to parents of students at Mount Pleasant Elementary and Middle Schools and the high school following the threats.  Also, all district parents were notified via eNews, the district's weekly letter that was sent on Friday.

Below is a copy of the letter written by superintendent Dr. Brad Draeger, copied from the note posted on district's website (the letter references the Mount Pleasant threat; it was posted on the site before the LHS incident), that was sent to parents:

Dear Livingston,

The following message is from Dr. Draeger regarding this morning’s events at the Mt. Pleasant Complex:

Great planning, cooperation of staff on the part of both Livingston Public Schools and the Township of Livingston is what keeps our students safe every day.  Today, the entire community kept our children safe and sound.

This morning, a threat was discovered on a restroom wall at Mount Pleasant Middle School.  There was no time or date associated with the message about a “bomb.”  The Livingston Police Department was notified and the buildings, both elementary and middle schools, were quickly evacuated.  Due to the inclement weather, we went to our evacuation plan to move the students to sites out of the rain and cold temperature.

Buses began to arrive approximately ten minutes after the evacuation notification and Mount Pleasant Elementary students were safely taken to the Livingston High School gymnasium.  In order to save time given the poor weather conditions and the large number of children involved, the middle school students walked with a police escort to Temple Beth Shalom.  The search was completed, the building was found to be safe and students were immediately returned to their schools.

This was an incredibly successful test of our emergency planning.  Everyone - bus drivers, school and District staff (including LHS staff), police and fire departments, Temple Beth Shalom and many others kept students safe and out of the weather as much as possible.  I am very proud of everyone’s efforts.  We take student safety very seriously - we plan for it every day - and we were able to demonstrate that level of safety today.

Thank you!!

Brad Draeger