2 Dutchess County Schools Dealing With Threats

MID-HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Two more Hudson Valley school districts have reported threats over the last 24 hours. Police have said, though, that neither of the alleged threats against the Wappinger district’s Van Wyck Junior High School or FDR High School in Hyde Park should concern students and parents, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported.

In a posting on the Hyde Park Central School District website, Superintendent Dr. Greer Rychcik said the district was aware of a recent social media post about a school shooting.

“Additionally, there are other rumors regarding potential specific actions of at-risk students. Please be assured that immediate action is taken each time a threat or a rumor of a threat surfaces,” she said.

Rychcik said the administration and the Hyde Park police were able to identify the source of the social media post, and the alleged threat was deemed to be unfounded.

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East Fishkill Police Chief Kevin Keefe said on his Facebook page that it was working with Wappinger school officials to assess the report of threatening statements made by a 12-year-old student at Van Wyck Junior High School.

He said steps were taken, after interviewing the students involved, to address safety concerns.

Keefe said the department determined there was no reason to keep students from attending school Tuesday.

“There is no cause for alarm if you see an officer on hand at Van Wyck,” he said. “We are there to reassure any students or parents who may be anxious or concerned about safety.”

Threats in the past few days in the Hudson Valley have included the Harvey School in Katonah and the Port Jervis, Dover and Valhalla districts.

Schools across the nation have been on high alert since 17 people, many of them students, were killed and 16 more injured in a Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Threats to schools, many of them turning out to be unsubstantiated, have skyrocketed.

According to The Educator's School Safety Network, there have been 532 school-based threats or violent incidents in the U.S. since the Parkland shooting — an average of 88.7 per school day. In all, 490 schools in 49 states have been threatened or had actual violence happen, according to the group.

Photo caption: Van Wyck Junior High School. Photo credit: Google Maps.