POUGHKEEPSIE – Students and staff were advised early Wednesday morning that Poughkeepsie High School was going to be moved to “remote learning” for Wednesday due to boiler repair work. Sources have told Mid-Hudson News that an “unfounded threat” was the cause, not a boiler malfunction.
The district indicated that students would be staying home but staff would be reporting to the building at their regular schedule on Wednesday. The message said:
“Today, February 16, 2022, Poughkeepsie High School will transition to remote instruction. This will provide greater opportunity for the district contractor to address a boiler repair. Staff are expected to report on time and student instruction will follow a two-hour delay. All after-school activities are canceled.”
On Tuesday, the high school was on lockdown and police officers and police K9s were searching in and around the school. A teacher told Mid-Hudson News that officials said the lockdown and police search was a “training exercise.” The teacher noted that the procedures for Tuesday’s alleged drill were unlike any they have practiced in the past, without going into detail.
When reached on Wednesday and questioned about the facts surrounding the remote learning, Superintendent Dr. Eric Rosser admitted that the police presence on Tuesday was an actual investigation, not a training exercise. “The investigation had concluded yesterday (Tuesday) after conversations with Poughkeepsie Police Department leadership,” he said.
The district leader maintained that students were kept from the building because of boiler issues. “There are two boilers that maintain the entire building. The school was built for three boilers to service the building. Decades ago one was removed leaving only two to heat the entire building. One of the two had failed. Today (Wednesday) contractors were in the building all day working on bringing the second boiler online.”
