Dear Saugerties Central School District Families, Staff, and Community,

Early this morning, we were made aware of a social media post that circulated last night, sharing a recording of a police dispatch regarding a possible threat to two children at Cahill Elementary School. Understandably, this has caused concern among our staff, students, and families. We want to provide you with the specifics of this situation as they have been provided to us to reassure you of the safety of our school buildings.

The local police department has posted their own update about this situation, sharing that when the threat was reported that they had already been working through a severe mental health crisis with the individual who placed the call, who they also knew was not in our area at the time of the call. They were quickly able to determine that there was no credible threat to our schools or students.

Since the situation was resolved immediately by law enforcement and there was never a risk to our school community, the District was not notified about the situation. After learning of the social media conversation, I spoke with the police chief, who confirmed that our schools were never in any danger.

Please be assured that if we are ever made aware of a potential threat—whether it is ultimately credible or not—we immediately put our emergency protocols into action and communicate with families as soon as we are able to do so. Every reported threat is treated as serious until law enforcement determines otherwise.

As a reminder, we also have several safety protocols in place on a daily basis. All visitors must check in with our security guard and be cleared through our Raptor Visitor Management System every day, so we are always aware of who is in our building. These procedures, combined with an active partnership with law enforcement, are critical to keeping our schools safe.

We appreciate our police for their immediate response to this situation and are thankful that there was no danger to our students and staff. We are reviewing this incident carefully together and will work together to strengthen our communication practices moving forward. Thank you for your understanding and ongoing partnership in keeping our community safe.

Sincerely,

Gwendolyn Roraback, Ed.D.
Acting Superintendent