MOUNT VERNON – City School District Superintendent Bill Seder released a statement during the noon hour Friday about the modified lockdown put into place earlier in the day for all buildings in the district. Seder says law enforcement is continuing to work with an online fax company in an effort to secure additional information.
Here is the text of Seder’s release:
“We retrieved a threatening fax at 7:45 a.m. this morning at the district’s central office. The fax that we received came through an online fax service. While the threat did not provide specifics such as time or building, the details of the fax did include the potential use of weapons which prompted our decision to get law enforcement immediately involved and to initiate a ‘Modified Lockdown.’
A ‘Modified Lockdown’ is a precautionary measure that places schools on alert for potential problems. Schools operate on a normal schedule limiting hallway access and canceling outside activities including recess. The timing of this situation caused additional challenges as High School and Middle School students were already on campus and in classes. Elementary students were in the process of bing picked up by district transporation, so the option toconsider cancelling school was not a viable one.
We greatly appreciate the timely and thorough responsiveness of City and County Law Enforcement during this ongoing situation. It is our intent to remain in a ‘Modified Lockdown’ status until such a time that we can feel assured that the threat is nullified.
We live in challenging times and unfortunately these scenarios occur far too often. We will take all threats seriously, utilizing the resources and training necessary to keep our students safe.
Unfortunately, neighboring districts to our north were subject to these kinds of threats last year in an attempt to cancel school and disrupt the educational process. Rest assured, if we find out who was involved in this most recent threat we will aggressively pursue charges to the fullest extent of the law.
Respectfully yours,
William Seder Jr.