BY MATT HERSH
Despite a threat of violence against teachers at Salem High School and days of rumors leading up to Friday, April 20, the day went without incident.
Prior to opening for the day, the school grounds were checked by bomb-sniffing dogs while police officers also made their presence felt as they guarded the doorways.
Superintendent Michael Delahanty said he thought students who attended felt safe because of the precautions taken.
Still, nearly half of the student population did not attend school that day and about 40 percent were absent on Thursday, April 19. There were no teacher absences despite the fact that the threats were made against them specifically.
Terry Berube, who teaches technical education at the school, said she felt safe because of the added police presence but was upset that someone would make the threat in the first place.
“Its ridiculous,” she said. “The money that (the town) had to spend on police was so much.”
Students who did attend were prohibited from bringing backpacks into the school and were only allowed to enter through one of two guarded entrances.
Delahanty said administrators decided to take these precautions after a series of threatening electronic messages were sent to teachers on Tuesday, April 17. The messages said a violent act was to occur on April 20, the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings.
Due to an ongoing police investigation, Delahanty said he could not give more details about the messages.
The decision to remain open for class was partly a message to the note writer, Delahanty said. He said it was important to not allow the school to be held hostage by threats. Due to rumors going around town prior to Friday saying Woodbury Middle School was the real target, police officers were posted there as well.
“We found that the rumor mill was kind of out of control,” said Deputy Police Chief William Ganley. “But we felt it was a legitimate threat.”
Police have yet to make any arrests but are continuing to follow several leads, Ganley said.
“We’ll see where it takes us but I wouldn’t say an arrest is imminent,” he said.