UPDATE - 1:22 p.m.: The Chenango County Sheriff's Office has advised UV that a suspect in the alleged threat made at a Cincinnatus Dollar General store is in custody.
Unadilla Valley CSD has been advised by New York State Police about a non-specific threat made by a customer at the Cincinnatus Dollar General. There was no specific school named in the threat, according to NYSP.
Unadilla Valley CSD is always in a state of “lockout” in the sense that all exterior doors are locked during the school day at all times and access is permitted only to authorized individuals. As a precaution, and because UV is holding its capital project vote today, the district, in consultation with NYSP, has immediately added increased security measures:
- The only access to the school building today will be through the District Office doors.
- Our School Resource Officer will be monitoring access.
- Visitors must show identification to enter the building.
- Voters will be restricted to the immediate location of the polling place.
Lockouts are different from lockdowns. A lockout simply controls access to a school building as a standing method of security or as a response to a specific or nonspecific external threat. A lockdown is a response to an actual threat inside the building.
Again, there has been no specific threat made to Unadilla Valley or any other school district in our region. But out of an abundance of caution, we are taking this seriously, as nothing is more important than the safety of our school community.
At this time, all after-school activities and student pickup will continue, as normal.