Smooth School Opening Ruined By Bomb Scare

This year's first day of school last week was probably the smoothest that Supt. of Schools Fran Rabinowitz can remember.

The second day of school -- not so much.

That's because someone called a bomb threat in to Hamden High School, clearing the school for several hours, causing students to lose instructional time only two days in to the school year.

The call has been traced to an "older gentleman" who made the call from a prepaid phone in Louisiana, Rabinowitz told the Board of Education Tuesday.

"We have had this happen twice before, and both times they were able to trace the call and find who did it," she said, "and we are hopeful they will get this one too."

There is a process in place for such situations and it was followed properly, she said, and the students were returned to their classrooms as quickly as possible -- as soon as it was determined that the call was a hoax.

"It wasn't a good think it happened the second day of school," she said.

It also happened at the same time that state Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor was visiting Helen Street School to tour the school's new preschool classes, an event Rabinowitz had to duck out of in order to take care of the bomb threat.

But overall, Pryor's visit went well, she said.

"There was nothing we could do about it," she said. "We had to clear the classes [at the high school]."

Ridge Hill School also had a smooth opening after a summer of renovation work that was finished just in the nick of time.

"They did an outstanding job of getting it all done," Rabinowitz said, with only two bathrooms near the gym still needing attention. "We are hoping to have an open house soon because the changes are phenomenal."