Dear Bluehawk Community,

This is a follow up to the incident at Hudson High School on March 29th. I want to again recognize our School Resource Officer, Deputy McSween, for his swift response to the altercation and helping to neutralize the situation quickly. We are aware of parent/guardian concerns relating to the perception that there is an increase in violent behavior at Hudson High School, however incidents of violence are rare and our disciplinary data does not align with this perception. The majority of students have not been involved in any acts of physical aggression. Any disrespectful or disruptive act is unacceptable and takes away from all the positive things that occur within our school.

I also want to acknowledge that the shelter-in-place lasted longer than expected, and we should have made an announcement to students, staff and parents to let them know why the shelter-in-place had not yet been lifted even though the situation was resolved. We were working in collaboration with local law enforcement as well as gaining parent contact for the students involved. We apologize for not making an announcement about the status of the situation that may have reassured students and staff.

We will be reviewing our emergency response protocol along with law enforcement to avoid a similar situation in the future. It is important to note, however, that immediate updates are not always possible due to the time it takes to gather the facts about what occurred. We strive to report accurate information based on the facts available. With that said, we will work to keep the school community better informed throughout such incidents as best we can.

Lastly, we urge you to continually reinforce with your student(s) the importance of reporting any suspicious or potentially threatening activity to an adult as soon as possible so we can quickly and safely address it. Please be assured that our administrators actively work with law enforcement to investigate and address all potential threats when they are discovered or reported. We would much rather conduct an investigation and find out the threat is not credible than not have a chance to do so because it was not reported.

The safety of our students and staff is a priority, and we value a collaborative partnership with staff, students and families to maintain a safe learning environment. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the District Office at 518-828-4360 x2101.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lisamarie Spindler
Superintendent of Schools