Roy C. Ketcham Hold-In-Place, Early Dismissal, Due to Threat

On Wednesday, January 19th, a Wappingers Central School District high school entered into a hold-in-place, and an eventual early dismissal, due to a threat directed towards the school.

'Roy C. Ketcham High School will be dismissing at 1pm today. This is out of an abundance of caution related to a reported threat within the school community' - this is the message that was sent to the RCK HS community early Wednesday afternoon.

Later on Wednesday, just before 2:30 pm, Dr. Dwight Bonk, Superintendent of Schools, shared a message to the entire Wappingers Central School District community via email regarding the incident. In the message, he indicated that the administration at RCK was made aware of concerning information circulating on the internet that could be perceived as a threat directed at RCK HS.

As the safety of all students and staff remains our top priority, this information was immediately reported to the Direct Senior Staff administration and the New York State Police. An investigation was initiated at approximately 11:40am, based on the information received.

Administrators consulted with New York State Police and eventually initiated a hold-in-place around 11:55 am, followed by an early dismissal at 1 pm. These precautions, part of the District Code of Conduct, were activated in order to allow for a thorough investigation, which included the K-9 unit's involvement.

Dr. Bonk, in his message to the WCSD community, commended RCK's principal, David Seipp, and the entire RCK staff for their leadership and commented on the exemplary conduct of the students during this stressful and unfortunate situation.

Principal Seipp shared an update with RCK students and their families around 4:30pm on Wednesday, citing that The New York State Police completed a thorough sweep of the school and have deemed it safe for occupancy tomorrow. He did note that as an additional level of security, law enforcement will be present at the school tomorrow.