Three threats interrupt school days

| 29 Sep 2011 | 12:09

    WEST MILFORD — Last Friday the district faced the first of three bomb scares. The threat, which occurred in the high school, was vague enough that the district evacuated and closed all of the public schools, and Our Lady Queen of Peace was also evacuated. As a precaution, the district cancelled all evening activities in the buildings. Many of the parents in the district were unhappy with the way things went, but Superintendent Glenn Kamp said everything went well. The complaints centered around communication between the schools and the parents, and the fact that the schools were evacuated shortly after noon and students weren’t released until much later. Kamp told the public that he and other administrators were looking into some of the communication services available. Our Lady Queen of Peace had no problem, as they use Honeywell, a security company, to contact all parents in a variety of ways within minutes. On Monday, there was a second bomb scare, this one originating in Macopin Middle School. Chief Paul Costello said he thought the threats came from two different individuals and that they were actively investigating them. He said the responsible parties would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. On Tuesday evening Superintendent Kamp expressed disappointment that no student had come forward with information despite his request for it. On Wednesday, yet a third threat was perceived when a 15-year-old boy wrote “BOMB!” on a piece of paper and left it on a desk. He was charged with false public alarm and released to his parents. In a statement, the police said, “At this time it appears that there is no connection between this incident and the two recent threats this past Monday and last Friday.”