A Suffolk County Police spokeswoman said officers were called to the high school at about 1 p.m. Wednesday after "tiny writing was found on the edge of a desk." Police would not disclose what the message contained, as it is part of an investigation. The incident was classified as "falsely reporting an incident," the fifth such of its kind in three weeks.
Dr. Brindley was unavailable by presstime for comment on Wednesday's incident.
Wednesday's incident comes six days after the administrators evacuated the school Nov. 6 due to threatening writing found on a locker room bench.
In the first incident, which occurred on Oct. 24, writing was found on a bathroom wall. Four days later, on Oct. 28, writing was found on a table. More writing was found on a stairwell Oct. 30. Police would not say whether the writings included bomb threats, only describing them as "writing of falsely reported incidents." No further information was released regarding the incidents.
Dr. Brindley, however, confirmed that four of the five threats contained messages about bombs. She said the school has been on academic lockdown, in that students have not been permitted to leave the school or go to the bathroom or nurse's office unattended by a teacher, since Oct. 31.
"At this point we will be on lockdown until further notice," she said following the evacuation Nov. 6. "I am hoping that people will come forward."
After an evacuation of the building, Dr. Brindley said, administrators arranged for bomb-sniffing dogs from a private security firm to conduct a walkthrough of the school but nothing was found. Fire department personnel also conducted their own investigation of the building, she said.
A 15-year-old student interviewed for this story was not in the school during the evacuation. However, he said that when he returned to school he heard of the incident.
The majority of the students are not scared of the threats, he said, adding, "everyone is just really mad at the people who are doing this."
Board of Education president Ann O'Brien said Wednesday that the academic lockdown was to be discussed by the board in a special executive session Wednesday night.
Kyle Markott, vice president of the board, who is also a member of the fire department, said last week that the situation is frustrating for all involved.
"I think whoever is doing this doesn't realize how many people they are affecting," he said. "They are taking police cars away from other emergency, fire department personnel."
Dr. Brindley said all threats and pranks are taken very seriously by the district, and if caught, the perpetrators will face disciplinary action and/or criminal charges. "The safety and well-being of our students and staff are a top priority. We will monitor these incidents very closely, continue to cooperate with the police department during their investigation, and remain in communication with our parents, students and staff," she said.
Dr. Brindley said officials are asking any students who may have more information about the incidents to come forward and call the district's "Safe School" hot line at 1-800-418-6423, ext. 359. All tips will remain anonymous, she said.
Dr. Brindley said the district would be taking every precaution to ensure the students' safety and will be sending out an announcement to parents regarding the incidents. She could not say how much longer the high school would be on academic lockdown or how far along the police investigation into the matter is.
"They are investigating every lead they get," she said.
peggy@northshoresun.com