NY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
Two emails to parents from Los Alamos Public Schools on Monday morning (January 26) indicate that there were some activities over the weekend that caused concern to administration.
The first, from Supt. Jennifer Guy, noted that the district has had an increase in phishing, spam and robo calls.
“So far these seem to be isolated to our systems but please know that staff will never try to sell you anything or ask you for cash donations or gift cards. There have been emails circulating that say various staff members are giving away household items and to fill out a form if you want something. Staff will never email you to give things away and you should not fill out these forms,” the email states.
Supt. Guy went on to say that a robo call had come into Los Alamos High School over the weekend and was left on voicemail.
“The call said there was bomb in the school. We worked with the police to verify school safety. The students and staff are safe. Schools across the state have received similar calls. We will let you know if we continue to receive these calls and will continue to keep student and staff safety as a top priority, Supt. Guy said. “Our technology department is working to block all of these type of calls and phishing attempts.”
The Reporter reached out to Supt. Guy to ask when the bomb threat voicemail was received, when Los Alamos Police Department was notified and what precautions they took but did not receive a response.
The second communication with parents was from “LAHS Principals” and noted that a voicemail had been received over the weekend that was part of a series of automated (robo) bomb threat calls made to schools across the state.
“Many districts including ours, were affected. We immediately contacted the police department who have confirmed that these calls are not credible and are believed to be fake,” the email states. “Out of abundance of caution, and with support of law enforcement, the building was thoroughly checked this morning. No suspicious items or concerns were found, and the school day is continuing as normal.”
The Reporter also reached out to LAPD asking what precautions LAPS takes before deciding the high school facility is safe, and what actions were taken by LAPD over the weekend. Deputy Chief James Rodriguez responded that the Reporter needs to contact LAPS about the precautions it takes. He said the bomb scare threat was not brought to LAPD’s attention until Monday morning.
“LAPD along with LAPS staff canvassed school grounds and nothing unusual was located,” Rodriguez said.
On Tuesday, the Reporter wrote to LAPD asking for any records of the reporting of the bomb threat or the email issues that occurred at Los Alamos Public Schools as well as any incident report or bomb squad report reported. On Wednesday, an LAPD records specialist responded that “LAPD does not have any records regarding this matter. There was not a call or an incident report created”.
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