John Trumbull Primary School

Dear Watertown Public Schools Faculty, Families and Students,

As an update to my earlier message, please be advised that it has been determined that the threats made to several schools in our region this morning have been determined to be hoaxes and non-credible. Several schools/districts that received the swatting calls who were put in lockdown are no longer in lockdown and are returning to a regular remainder of the day.

Since the start of the school year, school districts across the State of CT and nation have been experiencing an increase in 'hoax', 'copycat', and 'swatting' calls where people call in alleged threats to harm a school. These calls are alarming when they are received and they are extremely disruptive to the educational day and communities who receive them.

WHAT IS SWATTING?

"Swatting is the malicious tactic of making hoax emergency calls to an emergency service, such as a police department, to falsely report a fictitious ongoing emergency at a particular location. Swatting is extremely dangerous and carries a high risk of violence with the aim of causing chaos and provoking a large law enforcement response".

WHAT THE STATE IS DOING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS

In response to the uptick in these types of calls, increased trainings for school officials have been made available by the State which WPS administrative personnel have and will continue to take part in. And because this phenomenon is a State wide experience, Governor Lamont, Commissioner of Education Charlene Russell-Tucker, and Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection Ronnell Higgins recently released an important letter 'Regarding School Safety'. School districts continue to partner with local law enforcement, CT Intelligence and other State level Safety agencies to work collaboratively in times of crisis. We thank all of our local and State partners for a comprehensive approach to keeping all schools safe in CT.

Lastly, our local Watertown Police Department continues to be one of the first and perhaps most integral partner when situations like these arise - and we thank them for their constant support. They are immediately responsive, they are communicative and they are able to find important information through their connections with other local law enforcement groups to support our WPS schools and community.

If you are interested in learning more about Safety Partnerships in the Watertown Public Schools, we invite you to the following resources:

• Click here for the letter from the Governor and Commissioner of Education Regarding School Safety.

• Watch the October 15 BOE Meeting to view “Safety and Security Partnership with Watertown Police Department, Guests Chief Joshua Bernegger and Deputy Chief Renee Dominguez” (Begin Video at 8:52 minutes) 

• School Safety Resources for All Community Members Handout - 9/23/2024

• Wellmore Urgent Crisis Center Open 24/7

• Watch the September 23 BOE Meeting to view a presentation from “Wellmore Urgent Crisis Center” (Begin Video at 48:40 minutes) and a “Statement from the Superintendent Regarding Regarding Social Media vs. Official District Correspondence” (Begin Video at 16:14 minutes).

Thank you,

Dr. V