WESTFIELD – Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski issued a statement today regarding events at the Paper Mill Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon:
“Just before 2:00 p.m. (Tuesday), I received a call from the building principal that the word “bomb” had been found written on a wall in the bathroom. There was no additional information, such as date or time, so the threat was not specific. Erring on the side of caution, the Principal and I decided to evacuate the building and I called the Westfield Police Department. I also notified Christopher Rogers, our Administrator of Student Interventions and Safety, who went to the school.
“Since this was a low-level threat, students were given the opportunity to grab their jackets. The Principal (Cynthia Kennedy), Assistant Principal (Laura Creanza), and staff at Paper Mill did an outstanding job following our safety protocols and procedures.
”The Westfield Police and Fire Departments did a sweep of the building and cleared it by 2:30 p.m. The Police and Fire Departments determined that that the threat was not at all credible. We are very appreciative of their efforts. All students and staff were back in the building by 2:35 p.m. and were dismissed on time at 3:00 p.m. Chris Rogers and I worked with the Principal to put out the automated phone message, which went out to parents at 3:15 p.m. However, the vibe at the school was calm. We practice evacuation and other drills regularly.
“In terms of notification, our first priority is the safety of students. Typically, we don’t notify parents immediately because we know that would cause a rush of parents going to the school. This would interfere with the work of the police and fire departments. It would also cause an unmanageable traffic situation.”
