Poughkeepsie Schools Closed After Threat

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — Poughkeepsie city schools are closed Wednesday due to a social media threat. Here's what city school officials told the community:

Out of an abundance of caution, please be advised, the Poughkeepsie City School District will be closed on Wednesday, February 28, 2018. Further information will be provided as it becomes available.
The Poughkeepsie City School District is aware of a recent social media post regarding the threat of a school shooting at Poughkeepsie High School. Please be assured every threat is taken seriously. Immediate action has been taken. We are working closely with the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department and the FBI. The appropriate authorities are actively investigating this issue with the highest priority. The safety of our staff and students is our number one priority.

The Poughkeepsie district is the latest local district to suffer from a wave of threats against schools all around the country.

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

SEE ALSO:

• 2 Dutchess County Schools Dealing With Threats
• Disturbing Post Leads To Police Presence At Scarsdale High School
• Bedford PD Holds 'Active Shooter' Response Drill
• Woman Shot, Killed In Tarrytown, Prompting Schools To Lock-Out
• Threatening Message Found at Nyack High School

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, by last week there had 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 had been threatened or had actual violence happen, according to the group.