NORTHAMPTON — In response to the bomb threat that disrupted Northampton High School earlier this week, interim Superintendent Jannell Pearson-Campbell said all of the district’s schools have updated their safety plans.
Pearson-Campbell acknowledged that the incident highlighted a need for better communication from the school district. During the last two days, she wrote Thursday, the district has “listened to the feedback we received from the community about our safety response and improving communications in such emergency situations.” The district is using that feedback “to better support our safety response in the future,” the letter reads.
Northampton police said a bomb threat was made in a group text message around 2 p.m. Tuesday, which forced those in the school at 380 Elm St. to shelter in place for about 90 minutes. Students filed out of the building at around 3:25 p.m., while a multi-agency response was underway involving police dogs and the State Police bomb squad.
Students returned to class on Wednesday. District officials originally told the community that a special School Committee meeting would be held Thursday night. Those plans were changed, Vice Chair Gwen Agna said, with the meeting first being rescheduled to Wednesday before being canceled. Pearson-Campbell explained that the district was “gathering more information” and working with investigators ahead of a future meeting.
Pearson-Campbell wrote that teachers and administrators have met with police and fire officials to discuss the high school incident.
“We understand that this was a stressful situation and our responsibility is to ensure all members of our community are safe in our buildings,” she said.
Pearson-Campbell wrote that the plans are not to be released to the public “so as to not compromise safety.” She directed interested parties to the Safe Schools Plan on the Northampton Public Schools website, which provides general information about the district’s crisis response protocols and advice for family disaster planning.
Attempts to reach a Northampton police spokesperson for comment on Thursday afternoon were unsuccessful.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.