Absenteeism follows reported comment, rumors

EWR school district, borough cops continue investigation as Columbine anniversary passes

By: Matt Chiappardi – Staff Writer
About 15 percent of students were absent from the East Windsor Regional School District on Tuesday in the wake of Internet rumors that the tragedy at Columbine High School could be repeated in the district on the 11th anniversary of the event that day, according to interim Superintendent Michael Dzwonar.
Those rumors turned out to be false although Hightstown police were investigating the matter. The department does have one suspect over a threat allegedly made to Hightstown High School, according to Detective Ben Miller.
Detective Miller would not comment further about the investigation except to say that no arrests had been made as of Wednesday. However, he did not rule out the department filing charges in the future.
Mr. Dzwonar said the district was made aware of the alleged threat by police April 9 and is taking it seriously.
"We were able to pinpoint that someone said a student made a threat," Mr. Dzwonar said. "We have not been able to confirm the person actually said it."
Regardless, district officials have not been able to find any credible evidence the school was in actual danger and no disciplinary action has been taken against any student over the issue, he said Tuesday.
"If I had any indication my students were in danger, we would take appropriate action immediately," Mr. Dzwonar said.
Those actions would include closing the school and other security related moves the interim superintendent declined to reveal.
As for the lower attendance, Mr. Dzwonar said it could be connected to what he called "misguided Internet chatter among students." The interim superintendent, who would not reveal the content of the Internet conversations, said nearly all of it was "100 percent false."
"It grew into this Internet urban legend over the last couple of days," Mr. Dzwonar said Tuesday. "At this point we have found not one primary source of data on this. We have no evidence whatsoever that a threat exists."
He added that the lower attendance might not be completely due to concern over the alleged threat.
"From what I understand, there seems to be elevated absences on that day (the Columbine anniversary) in a lot of places each year," he said.
On April 20, 1999, two seniors at Columbine High School in Colorado shot dead 12 of their schoolmates and one teacher and injured 21 other students before taking their own lives.
The event was widely publicized and sparked an increased interest in school security throughout the nation.
The district last week and this week sent home two letters to parents at Hightstown High School and Melvin H. Kreps Middle School in an attempt to calm anxieties that the rumors in the district presented an actual threat.
In the letters, Mr. Dzwonar states there is no evidence of any danger, and "all that has been revealed is a report of a highly inappropriate comment by a single student."
One parent, who sent her daughters to school Tuesday, said she was concerned but did not think there was any cause to be more cautious than usual.
"It’s always a little scary when you get something like that," said Hightstown resident Sharon Galbraith Ryer. "It seems like a low-level threat. I feel confident my kids are safe and the school district is careful."
Another parent, who would not provide his name as he stood outside the high school Monday, said he did not take the threat seriously at all.
"The media always blows these things out of proportion," he said. "This kind of thing would happen all the time when I was a kid and no one even knew about it."
mchiappardi@ centraljersey.com