Students and staff at Coleytown Elementary experienced a two hour delay Nov. 3, after the Fairfield Country Regional Dispatch Center was alerted of an unexpected bomb threat at around 7:45 a.m., not very long before the school day began for elementary students.
“School officials told parents that while they do not believe the threat is credible, they are conducting a thorough review of CES,” 06880 reported.
The Westport Police Department (WPD) began a sweep around the school within thirty minutes of the report with the Stamford Police Bomb Squad. At that point, Coleytown Elementary families were notified of the situation. While Coleytown Middle, which is adjacent to the elementary school, conducted a shelter-in-place. Any staff or students already on campus, from Coleytown Elementary, were directed to stay inside the middle school until further notice.
At 9:10 a.m., the school was officially cleared, with no explosive devices found. The Westport Police Detective Bureau is continuing to investigate the incident.
“Coleytown Elementary was deemed safe, and normal operations will resume, with students expected to arrive between 10:45 and 11:00 a.m,” Superintendent Thomas Scarice said. “The CMS shelter-in-place was lifted.”
At roughly 10:20 a.m., Scarice sent out a message in which he reported the timeline of precautions taken and expressed gratitude for the quick response of the WPD and everyone’s cooperation.
“I want to express my deep appreciation for the professionalism and swift coordination of the WPD, the leadership of our building administrators, and the dedication of our faculty and support staff, whose actions ensured the safety of everyone involved,” Scarice wrote. “[…] our prior experiences […] have made us well-prepared to respond quickly and effectively, as was demonstrated this morning.”
Some students, like Sophia Sinclair ’28, reflected on how unsettling this was for the community as a former Coleytown Elementary student.
“It’s very crazy and saddening that the school got a threat because I think most people think […] Westport and its schools is a very safe place, and for an elementary school to be threatened must have been very scary for parents,” Sinclair said. “When I was at Coleytown I always thought […] [the school] felt very welcoming and safe, and I think it would definitely be very shocking to me as a kid.”
