Public safety and school officials provided an update Sunday on last week’s threats against the Hilton Central School District.
Authorities say the threats came from an overseas email address, using an overseas server to hide their identity.
According to a joint statement from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Greece Police Department, numerous other communities in the United States have received similar threats and no links have been found between the threats and local individuals.
Police say the threats are a "hoax meant to cause panic and disruption in our school community."
Police say they don't know if the threats will continue, but if they do, they will continue to investigate them.
The Hilton School District also released a statement.
They say additional added security protocols will be implemented to ensure at the school. This is in addition to additional law enforcement presence at the district, should more threats arise. An evacuation plan has been constructed as well.
The district will hold classes on Monday.
The full statement from Superintendent Casey Kosiorek can be found below:
"Dear Families and Guardians:
I am writing to provide everyone with an update since our community meeting on Friday evening. On Sunday, I held a meeting with the Assistant Superintendents, the Director of Safety and Security, and leadership from both the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the Greece Police Department. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office determined that Wednesday and Friday’s email threats continue to have no credibility. This was law enforcement’s position on Friday morning, as well as today. We communicated to law enforcement leaders that a contract has been secured for additional professional security presence outside normal school hours. In addition, other internal security measures have also been added today to secure our schools. Buildings will have one point of entry with our security staff to provide access until evening activities are done at each school. With the additional measures in place today, both law enforcement agencies indicated that the Hilton Central School District has exceeded their expectations for safety and security moving forward. Both agencies stated that if an identical or similar, non-credible threat came through, they would provide additional presence outside schools, but deem it safe to continue our normal school day. We will work with our law enforcement partners on any future concerns that arise.
Based on the feedback from our staff and community, a meeting was held today with all Principals to solidify plans for staff and students in case there is a need to evacuate in the future. If necessary, off-site locations have been secured for our schools by our Director of Transportation. We ask that you contact the Safe Schools Helpline immediately via the website Link to Safe Schools Helpline or by calling 1-800-418-6423 EXT. 359 if you see or hear something concerning. This service is available 24/7 for anyone in our community.
We will be in session on Monday."
The joint statement from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Greece Police Department can also be read below:
