Dear School Community,
This afternoon administration was made aware of a bullet being found on the floor in a classroom in the middle school. A student found the bullet and reported it to a staff member. The school immediately went into a hold in place to allow the administration to investigate.
Law enforcement began an immediate investigation as well that included a safety sweep of several rooms and other areas of the building with K-9 assistance. Busses were held until all students were released.
Law enforcement has completed their safety sweep of the building and will be assisting the district with follow-up.
Please encourage your student if they have any information regarding this to report it either by talking with a staff member or visiting the office Monday morning, or using the online anonymous STOPiT app uploaded to student devices and found in the app store.
We remind parents that a school bus is an extension of the school. In an emergency situation, please do not ask to have your child removed from the bus or the school. The district has safety protocols in place that include reunification.
We want to thank our staff and First Student drivers for their flexibility today. We also want to thank the Greene County Sheriffs Department and Albany County K-9 detail for their assistance.
Coxsackie-Athens Schools have no higher priority than maintaining safe and secure school environments for teaching and learning. We take any incident as real and begin investigating it immediately by interviewing witnesses or anyone we ascertain may have information. We involve local law enforcement. If necessary, we activate our emergency procedures.
Second, we will use this event to learn by reviewing our actions and taking advantage of opportunities to improve our procedures. That means we continually work to make sure our procedures are known by staff and students and practiced on a regular basis. This includes calling attention again to our online reporting system and reminding everyone in our school community, if you see or hear something, say something.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at the district office. 518-731-1710.
Randall W. Squier
Superintendent of Schools